Jones v. Dover Police Department ( 2017 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
MATTHEW JONES, §
§ No. 410, 2017
Defendant Below- §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—J.P Court No. 7
§ of the State of Delaware
DOVER POLICE DEPARTMENT, § in and for Kent County
§ File No. 1705001842
Plaintiff Below- §
Appellee. §
Submitted: October 12, 2017
Decided: December 1, 2017
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
This 1st day of December 2017, upon consideration of the notice to
show cause and the appellant’s response thereto, it appears to the Court that:
(1) On October 5, 2017, the Court received appellant Matthew
Jones’ notice of appeal, purporting to appeal from a judgment of guilt entered
by the Justice of the Peace Court on September 6, 2017. The same day, the
Senior Court Clerk issued a notice to Jones directing him to show cause why
his appeal should not be dismissed given the Supreme Court’s lack of
jurisdiction to hear an appeal directly from the Justice of the Peace Court.
(2) Jones filed a response to the notice to show cause on October 12,
2017. Although it is not entirely clear, it appears that Dover Police issued a
traffic citation to Jones for failing to stop at a stop sign. Jones asserts that he
was found guilty by the Justice of the Peace Court on September 6, 2017 and
was forced to pay $119.50 before he could leave the court. Jones asserts that
he attempted to appeal to the Court of Common Pleas on September 9, 2017
but that a clerk refused to accept his appeal. Jones contends that he then tried
to file an appeal in the Superior Court on September 22, 2017 and again on
September 25, 2017, but that his appeals have been ignored. Jones contends
that he filed a notice of appeal with this Court in order to avoid being time-
barred.
(3) Jones attaches several documents to his response to the notice to
show cause. He contends that his documents show that the Court of Common
Pleas and the Superior Court have refused to accept his appeal. We disagree
with that assertion. At most, Jones’ various attachments show that he drafted
documents purporting to appeal from the Justice of the Peace Court judgment.
There is no documentation substantiating Jones’ claim that his appeals were
refused.
(4) Moreover, we note that under 21 Del. C. § 708, a right to appeal
to the Court of Common Pleas from a traffic violation only exists in cases
involving the imposition of a sentence of imprisonment or a fine exceeding
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$100.1 Although Jones attaches a receipt showing that he paid $119.50 to the
Justice of the Peace Court, that receipt is not proof that his fine for running a
stop sign exceeded $100. As this Court has held, the amount of the fine for
determining the minimum jurisdictional amount does not include assessments
and costs that are compensatory in nature.2 Thus, assessments for the Victims’
Compensation Fund and court costs, for example, are excluded from the
calculation when determining whether a fine meets the jurisdictional
threshold. Thus, although we cannot determine it from this record, it seems
likely that Jones failed to meet the jurisdictional threshold to appeal to the
Court of Common Pleas from the Justice of the Peace Court in this case.
(5) Even if Jones’ fine met the minimum threshold to appeal to the
Court of Common Pleas, this Court has no jurisdiction to consider his appeal
directly from the Justice of the Peace Court.3 Thus, Jones’ appeal must be
dismissed.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the appeal is
DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
1
21 Del. C. § 708(b).
2
Weaver v. State, 779 A.2d 254, 257 (Del. 2001).
3
Del. Const. art. IV, § 11(1)(b).
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