Mitchell v. State ( 2016 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
LEROY MITCHELL, §
§ No. 609, 2015
Defendant Below, §
Appellant, § Court Below: Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware
v. §
§ Cr. ID No. 1405019087
STATE OF DELAWARE, §
§
Plaintiff Below, §
Appellee. §
Submitted: June 8, 2016
Decided: June 15, 2016
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; HOLLAND, and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
This 15th day of June, 2016, it appears to the Court that:
(1) On April 23, 2014, the police stopped Leroy Mitchell as he drove
through the intersection of Seventh and Jefferson Streets in Wilmington, because
he was not wearing a seatbelt. The police smelled cannabis coming from the car,
so they searched it. The police found cannabis in a clear plastic bag and a loaded
nine millimeter handgun between the driver’s seat and the center console. They
later learned that the gun had been reported stolen. On November 3, 2015,
Mitchell pled guilty to possession of a firearm by a person prohibited and carrying
a concealed deadly weapon. The Superior Court determined that Mitchell had two
prior felony convictions1 that triggered a mandatory ten year sentence under 11
Del. C. § 1448(e)(1)(c), and sentenced him to ten years at Level V incarceration
followed by decreasing levels of supervision.
(2) The only issue in this appeal is whether the Superior Court erred when
it determined that Mitchell’s prior felony convictions qualified him for the
enhanced penalties of § 1448(e)(1)(c). Under § 1448(e)(1)(c), the mandatory
minimum sentence for prohibited persons convicted of possessing deadly weapons
is (1) three years at Level V if the person was previously convicted of a “violent
felony,” (2) five years at Level V if the person was previously convicted of a
“violent felony” within the past ten years, or (3) ten years at Level V if the person
was previously convicted of two or more “violent felonies.”
(3) Mitchell’s criminal history puts him in the third category. Mitchell
was arrested in 2005 and charged with various felony drug offenses. He pled
guilty to trafficking in cocaine and possession with intent to deliver a controlled
substance on July 13, 2006. The Superior Court sentenced Mitchell to the since-
abolished “boot camp diversion program.” In 2007, Mitchell was again arrested
and charged with possession of drugs within 1000 feet of a school. He pled guilty,
and the Superior Court sentenced him on October 24, 2007. At the same time, on
1
App. to Opening Br. at 18 (“[T]he Court concludes that 10 years is the minimum mandatory
sentence . . . because the defendant was sentenced for prior violent felonies on two separate
occasions, first in the year 2006. The Boot Camp Diversion Order is a judgment of conviction . .
. and the second conviction [was] in 2007.”).
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October 24, 2007, the court also sentenced Mitchell for a violation of probation
stemming from his 2006 conviction for trafficking in cocaine and possession with
intent to deliver a controlled substance. It is not disputed that these crimes qualify
as “violent felonies” for purposes of § 1448(e)(1)(c).
(4) Mitchell argues that because he was sentenced on the same day for
both the 2007 possession charge and the violation of probation arising out of his
2006 conviction for trafficking and possession with intent to deliver, that they
should count as one conviction for purposes of § 1448. Under the plain language
of § 1448(e)(1)(c), the minimum mandatory sentence for possession of a firearm
by a person prohibited is ten years “if the person has been convicted on 2 or more
separate occasions of any violent felony.” A conviction is “a verdict of guilty by
the trier of fact, whether judge or jury, or a plea of guilty or nolo contendre
accepted by the court.”2
(5) Mitchell pled guilty and was convicted of trafficking in cocaine and
possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance on July 13, 2006. Mitchell
again pled guilty and was convicted of possession of drugs within 1000 feet of a
school on October 24, 2007. Even though Mitchell was sentenced for a violation
of probation arising out of the 2006 conviction on the same day as his 2007
conviction, the conviction for the first offense occurred in 2006 and therefore on a
2
11 Del. C. § 222(3).
3
“separate occasion.” As Mitchell came within the unambiguous terms of the
statutory language, the Superior Court did not err when it found that he was subject
to the ten year mandatory minimum of § 1448(e)(1)(c).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior
Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr.
Justice
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