Folks v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
JOSEPH FOLKS, JR., §
§ No. 333, 2015
Petitioner Below, §
Appellant, § Court Below–Superior Court of
§ the State of Delaware in and
v. § for New Castle County
§
STATE OF DELAWARE, § C.A. No. 14M-06-018 (Cr. ID
§ No. 30103873DI)
Respondent Below, §
Appellee. §
Submitted: July 31, 2015
Decided: August 6, 2015
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VAUGHN and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
This 6th day of August 2015, upon consideration of the notice to show
cause issued by the Clerk, the response to the notice to show cause filed by
the appellant, and the answer filed by the State, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The appellant, Joseph Folks, Jr. (“Folks”), is incarcerated at the
James T. Vaughn Correctional Center (“JTVCC”). On June 5, 2014, Folks
filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in the Superior Court. The
Superior Court denied the petition in an order dated June 10, 2014 and
docketed on June 11, 2014.
(2) Folks filed an appeal from the June 10, 2014 order on June 29,
2015. On its face, the notice of appeal was untimely filed. To invoke this
Court’s appellate jurisdiction, a notice of appeal must be filed within thirty
days after entry upon the docket of the appeal from which the appeal is
taken.1 The only exception to the rule is when the appellant can demonstrate
that the failure to file the appeal within the thirty-day period is attributable to
court personnel.2
(3) The Clerk issued a notice directing Folks to show cause why
the appeal should not be dismissed as untimely filed. 3 In response to the
notice, Folks asserts that the delay in filing the appeal was caused by the
Superior Court’s failure to send him the June 10, 2014 order. Folks
contends that he was not made aware of the June 10 order until October 21,
2014, when he received the Superior Court docket sheet he had requested
from the Prothonotary. According to Folks, upon receiving the docket sheet
and realizing that the Superior Court had denied the habeas corpus petition
on June 10, 2014, he immediately wrote to the Prothonotary and requested a
copy of the June 10 order.
1
Del. Supr. Ct. R. 6(a).
2
Bey v. State, 402 A.2d 362, 363 (Del. 1979).
3
See Del. Supr. Ct. R. 29(b) (governing involuntary dismissal upon notice of the Court).
2
(4) At the Court’s request, the State filed an answer to Folks’
response to the notice to show cause. The State reports that the JTVCC legal
mail log from June 10, 2014 to July 31, 2015 reflects that Folks received
mail from the Prothonotary only on October 20 and 21, 2014. The State
agrees that the untimely filing of Folks’ notice of appeal appears to be
attributable to court personnel.
(5) Having carefully considered the parties’ positions, we are
constrained to conclude that the appeal must be dismissed as untimely filed.
On similar facts in previous cases, the Court has dismissed an untimely
appeal when the appellant failed to file the notice of appeal within thirty
days of receiving the docket sheet notifying the appellant of the trial court’s
decision.4 Folks’ case does not warrant different treatment. In any event,
Folks admitted that the Prothonotary sent Folks a copy of the court’s order
denying his petition on November 17, 2014, and he nonetheless waited until
June 29, 2015 to file his notice of appeal.
(6) The time period within which to file a notice of appeal is
mandatory and jurisdictional.5 In this case, it was incumbent upon Folks to
file the notice of appeal within thirty days of October 21, 2014, the date he
4
See Forehand v. State, 2013 WL 1633272 (Del. Feb. 25, 2013); Barnett v. State, 2006
WL 2371338 (Del. Aug. 14, 2006); Davis v. State, 2000 WL 949647 (Del. April 14,
2000).
5
Carr v. State, 554 A.2d 778, 779 (Del. 1989).
3
admittedly received the Superior Court docket sheet notifying him that the
court had denied the petition for a writ of habeas corpus. Folks waited more
than eight months after receiving the docket sheet to file the notice of
appeal.
(7) The record does not reflect that court-related personnel
prevented Folks from filing the notice of appeal within thirty days of his
receipt of the docket sheet notifying him of the Superior Court’s denial of
his habeas corpus petition. Under these circumstances, we conclude that
Folks’ appeal was untimely filed.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, under Supreme Court Rules
6(a) and 29(b), that the appeal is DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr.
Justice
4