Stuart v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
GARY STUART, §
§ No. 572, 2015
Defendant Below, §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware,
STATE OF DELAWARE, § in and for New Castle County
§ Cr. ID 0606006590
Plaintiff Below, §
Appellee. §
Submitted: October 28, 2015
Decided: November 5, 2015
Before HOLLAND, VALIHURA, and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
This 5th day of November 2015, it appears to the Court that:
(1) On October 22, 2015, the appellant, Gary Stuart, filed a notice of
appeal from a Superior Court commissioner’s order purporting to dismiss his third
motion for postconviction relief. The Senior Court Clerk issued a notice to Stuart
directing him to show cause why his appeal should not be dismissed for this
Court’s lack of jurisdiction to consider an appeal directly from a commissioner’s
decision. In his response to the notice to show cause, Stuart argues the substantive
merits of his motion for postconviction relief and does not address the
jurisdictional defect.
(2) In the absence of intermediate review by a Superior Court judge, this
Court has no jurisdiction to hear an appeal directly from a Superior Court
commissioner’s order.1 Accordingly, this appeal must be dismissed.
(3) We note that, under 10 Del. C. § 512(b)(1)b, a Superior Court judge
may refer a motion for postconviction relief to a Superior Court commissioner to
make findings and recommendations to be reviewed by the judge de novo. In this
case, the commissioner’s September 24, 2015 letter incorrectly purported to
summarily dismiss Stuart’s motion for postconviction relief rather than making
findings and recommendations to be reviewed by the referring judge.
(4) Under these circumstances, we direct the Clerk of this Court to
provide a copy of this Order to the Superior Court commissioner and to the
referring judge with instructions that Stuart should be permitted 10 days from the
date of this Order to file any objections to the commissioner’s September 24, 2015
ruling. Upon the expiration of the 10-day period, the Superior Court shall conduct
the required de novo and issue a final order in the case. Stuart may file a notice of
appeal once the Superior Court judge reviews the commissioner’s September 24,
2015 ruling and enters a final order.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
1
Johnson v. State, 884 A.2d 475, 479 (Del. 2005).
2