Thomas v. State ( 2015 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
RONNIE THOMAS, §
§ No. 400, 2015
Defendant Below- §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware,
STATE OF DELAWARE, § in and for Sussex County
§ Cr. ID 9606008202
Plaintiff Below- §
Appellee. §
Submitted: August 10, 2015
Decided: September 1, 2015
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; HOLLAND, and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
This 1st day of September 2015, it appears to the Court that:
(1) On July 30, 2015, the Court received Ronnie Thomas’s notice of
appeal from a Superior Court order, docketed May 26, 2015, denying his second
motion for postconviction relief. Under Supreme Court Rule 6(a)(iii), a timely
notice of appeal should have been filed on or before June 25, 2015.
(2) The Clerk issued a notice directing Thomas to show cause why the
appeal should not be dismissed as untimely filed. Thomas filed a response to the
notice to show cause on August 10, 2015. He asserts that his appeal was untimely
because he is a layman and needed help from the prison law library, which was
closed due to the Fourth of July holiday.
(3) Time is a jurisdictional requirement.1 A notice of appeal must be
received by the Office of the Clerk of this Court within the applicable time period
in order to be effective.2 We note that Thomas’s notice of appeal was due before
the Fourth of July holiday; therefore, his explanation for his untimely filing does
not make sense.
(4) Moreover, to the extent Thomas is suggesting that he was simply
ignorant of the Court’s filing deadline, we note that an appellant’s pro se status
does not excuse a failure to comply strictly with the jurisdictional requirements of
Supreme Court Rule 6.3 Unless an appellant can demonstrate that the failure to file
a timely notice of appeal is attributable to court-related personnel, an untimely
appeal cannot be considered.4 Thomas’s case does not fall within this exception.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Leo E. Strine, Jr.
Chief Justice
1
Carr v. State, 554 A.2d 778, 779 (Del.), cert. denied, 493 U.S. 829 (1989).
2
Del. Supr. Ct. R. 10(a).
3
Smith v. State, 47 A.3d 481, 486-87 (Del. 2012).
4
Bey v. State, 402 A.2d 362, 363 (Del. 1979).
2