Thompson v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
MARTIN W. THOMPSON, §
§ No. 151, 2018
Defendant Below- §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware
STATE OF DELAWARE, §
§ Cr. ID 1508021572 (N)
Plaintiff Below- §
Appellee. §
Submitted: May 8, 2018
Decided: July 9, 2018
Before VAUGHN, SEITZ, and TRAYNOR, Justices.
ORDER
Upon consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the State’s motion
to affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The defendant-appellant, Martin Thompson, filed this appeal
from the Superior Court’s order sentencing him for his third violation of
probation (VOP). The State of Delaware has filed a motion to affirm the
judgment below on the ground that it is manifest on the face of Thompson’s
opening brief that his appeal is without merit. We agree and affirm.
(2) The record reflects that Thompson pled guilty in March 2016 to
second degree robbery and second degree conspiracy. The Superior Court
immediately sentenced him as follows: (i) for second degree robbery, five
years at Level V imprisonment, suspended entirely for one year at Level III
probation followed by one year at Level II probation; and (ii) for second
degree conspiracy, two years at Level V imprisonment suspended for one year
at Level III probation. Thompson did not file a direct appeal.
(3) Thompson was found in violation of his probation on August 17,
2016 and again on March 8, 2017. In sentencing him on both his first and
second VOP, the Superior Court suspended all of Thompson’s Level V time
for lower levels of supervision.
(4) On November 30, 2017, while on Level III probation, police
issued warrants for Thompson’s arrest for harassment, theft, and unlawful use
of a credit card. As a result of these new charges, Thompson was charged
with his third VOP. The VOP report alleged that Thompson had violated his
probation by committing new criminal offenses, by failing to report to his
probation officer on two occasions, by failing to attend court-ordered
programs and obtain employment, and by breaking curfew.
(5) Thompson failed to appear at the VOP hearing scheduled for
January 24, 2018, and a capias was issued for his arrest. On March 6, 2018,
the Superior Court found Thompson in violation of probation and sentenced
him as follows: (i) for second degree robbery, four years and ten months at
Level V imprisonment (with credit for 19 days previously served), to be
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suspended upon successful completion of the Key Program for two years at
Level IV Crest, to be suspended upon successful completion of Level IV Crest
for one year at Level III Crest Aftercare; and (ii) for second degree conspiracy,
two years at Level V imprisonment, suspended entirely for two years at Level
III probation. Thompson appeals this sentence.
(6) In his opening brief on appeal, Thompson contends that he
should not have been found in violation of his probation because the new
criminal charges against him were dismissed by the Family Court.
Furthermore, he argues that his technical violations of his probation did not
warrant the Superior Court sentencing him to complete the Key/Crest
program. Thompson contends he only failed to report because his mother was
diagnosed with brain cancer and he was her sole caretaker and that his
probation officer was aware of his situation.
(7) We review the Superior Court’s revocation of a defendant’s
probation for abuse of discretion.1 In a VOP hearing, unlike a criminal trial,
the State is only required to prove by a preponderance of the evidence that the
defendant violated the terms of his probation.2 A preponderance of evidence
means “some competent evidence” to “reasonably satisfy the judge that the
1 Kurzmann v. State, 903 A.2d 702, 716 (Del. 2006).
2 Id.
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conduct of the probationer has not been as good as required by the conditions
of probation.”3 Because proof of a VOP is less than the “reasonable doubt”
standard of a criminal trial, we have held that Superior Court has the authority
to revoke a defendant’s probation for incurring new criminal charges
notwithstanding the later dismissal of those charges.4
(8) Thus, we find no merit to Thompson’s argument that the
Superior Court could not find him in violation of his probation based on new
criminal conduct when the charges were later dismissed. To the extent that
Thompson may be challenging the sufficiency of the State’s evidence to prove
his VOP based on new criminal conduct, we are unable to review that claim
because Thompson failed to request and provide a transcript of the VOP
hearing to support such a claim.5 Moreover, Thompson does not dispute that
he violated probation by his failure to report, which alone forms a sufficient
basis for the Superior Court’s VOP finding.
(9) Moreover, we find no merit to Thompson’s argument
challenging the severity of his VOP sentence. In sentencing a defendant for a
VOP, the trial court is authorized to impose any period of incarceration up to
3 Id. (quoting Collins v. State, 897 A.2d 159, 160 (Del. 2006)).
4 Hearn v. State, 2011 WL 6808013, *1 (Del. Dec. 21, 2011). See also Gibbs v. State, 760
A.2d 541, 544 (Del. 2000) (holding that the trial court may revoke probation
notwithstanding the defendant’s acquittal on the underlying charges that gave rise to the
VOP charge).
5 Tricoche v. State, 525 A.2d 151, 154 (Del. 1987).
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and including the balance of the Level V time remaining to be served on the
original sentence.6 In this case, the Superior Court sentenced Thompson to
complete the Level V Key Program, followed by decreasing levels of
supervision at Level IV Crest and Level III Crest Aftercare. Under the
circumstances, the sentence was far less than the Level V time remaining on
Thompson’s original sentence. We conclude that the sentence was neither
arbitrary nor excessive and does not reflect any evidence of a closed mind by
the sentencing judge.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the
Superior Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Collins J. Seitz, Jr.
Justice
6 11 Del. C. § 4334(c).
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