Williams v. State

CourtUnited States State Supreme Court of Delaware
PartiesJAMES E. WILLIAMS, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE OF DELAWARE, Appellee.
Docket Number404,2021
Decision Date09 June 2022

JAMES E. WILLIAMS, Defendant Below, Appellant,
v.

STATE OF DELAWARE, Appellee.

No. 404, 2021

Supreme Court of Delaware

June 9, 2022


Submitted: April 11, 2022

Court Below-Superior Court of the State of Delaware Cr. ID No. 1610009536 (S)

Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and MONTGOMERY-REEVES, Justices.

ORDER

Collins J. Seitz, Jr., Chief Justice

After consideration of the appellant's opening brief, the State's motion to affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court that:

(1) James E. Williams filed this appeal from a Superior Court order sentencing him for a violation of probation ("VOP"). The State has filed a motion to affirm the judgment below on the ground that it is manifest on the face of Williams' opening brief that his appeal is without merit. We agree and affirm.

(2) In 2016, Williams, then a nineteen-year-old male, was indicted for six sex offenses arising out of his physical contact with a thirteen-year-old female. On April 19, 2017, Williams pleaded guilty to one count of fourth-degree rape and one count of unlawful sexual contact, and the State agreed to dismiss the remaining

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charges. After a presentence investigation, the Superior Court sentenced Williams as follows: for fourth-degree rape, to fifteen years of Level V incarceration, suspended after the successful completion of the Transitions Sex Offender Program for decreasing levels of supervision; and for unlawful sexual contact, to three years of Level V incarceration, suspended for two years of Level III probation. Williams did not appeal his convictions or sentence.

(3) In 2019, the Superior Court found that Williams had violated the terms of his probation. The Superior Court re-sentenced Williams on the fourth-degree rape conviction to twelve years and seven months of Level V incarceration, suspended for six months served in a program chosen by the Department of Corrections followed by two years of Level III probation with GPS-monitoring. On the unlawful-sexual-contact conviction, the Superior Court re-imposed the original sentence of three years of Level V incarceration, suspended for two years of Level III probation. In April 2021, the Superior Court again found that Williams had violated the terms of his probation. The Superior Court re-sentenced Williams on the fourth-degree rape conviction to eleven years and ten months, suspended for nine months of Level IV work release followed by one year of Level III probation. On the unlawful-sexual-contact conviction, the Superior Court sentenced Williams to three years of incarceration, suspended for six months of Level III probation.

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(4) In October 2021, Williams' probation officer filed a VOP report, alleging that Williams had violated the terms of his probation by failing to follow the rules of the work-release center. Specifically, the VOP report alleged that Williams had violated the work-release center's rules because he was fired from his job at a fast-food restaurant because he had been accused of sexually harassing a...

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