Morrisey v. State ( 2016 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
NORMAN MORRISEY, §
§ No. 323, 2016
Defendant Below- §
Appellant, §
§ Court Below—Superior Court
v. § of the State of Delaware
§
STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID 91006237DI
§
Plaintiff Below- §
Appellee. §
Submitted: August 8, 2016
Decided: October 10, 2016
Before HOLLAND, VALIHURA, and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
This 10th day of October 2016, the Court has considered Norman Morrisey’s
appeal from the Superior Court’s denial of his motion to alter or amend the
judgment or, alternatively, motion for relief from judgment under Superior Court
Civil Rules 59(d) and 60(b)(6). The judgment that Morrisey seeks to alter or
amend is the Superior Court’s January 12, 2016 judgment denying his motion for
correction of his criminal sentence. Neither Civil Rule 59 nor Civil Rule 60 may be
invoked in this case as a means for Morrisey to seek review of his criminal
sentence. First, we note that Morrisey filed an appeal from the Superior Court’s
January 12, 2016 judgment, which this Court dismissed as untimely. Morrisey
cannot use the Superior Court’s Civil Rules as a means to avoid the jurisdictional
bar to this Court’s review of his untimely appeal. Moreover, this Court has held
many times, that the Superior Court Civil Rules may not be used in a criminal
proceeding to collaterally attack a conviction1 or to modify a sentence.2
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior
Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
1
Jackson v. State, 2007 WL 2231072 (Del. Aug. 2, 2007).
2
Landry v. State, 2015 WL 4464772 (Del. July 20, 2015); Johnson v. State, 2015 WL 1880412(Del. Apr. 21, 2015).
2