Fairley v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
VICTOR FAIRLEY, §
§ No. 31, 2022
Defendant Below, §
Appellant, §
§ Court Below–Superior Court
v. § of the State of Delaware
§
STATE OF DELAWARE, §
§ Cr. ID No. 1809000335 (N)
Appellee. §
Submitted: May 2, 2022
Decided: July 18, 2022
Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
After consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the State’s motion to
affirm, and the record on appeal, we conclude that the Superior Court’s judgment
should be affirmed. On October 22, 2019, the appellant, Victor Fairley, pleaded
guilty to one count of racketeering and one count of drug dealing in a tier-four
quantity. On February 14, 2020, the Superior Court sentenced Fairley to an
aggregate of eighteen years of unsuspended Level V incarceration. Fairley did not
appeal his convictions or sentence and, accordingly, his sentence became final thirty
days thereafter on March 16, 2020.1 On October 15, 2021, more than one year and
six months after his conviction became final, Fairley filed his first motion for
1
Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(m)(1).
postconviction relief. The Superior Court did not abuse its discretion by denying
Fairley’s motion for postconviction relief: the motion was procedurally barred as
untimely filed2 and did not satisfy the pleading requirements of Superior Court
Criminal Rule 61(i)(5).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the State’s motion to affirm is
GRANTED and the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
2
Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(i)(1) (providing in part that “[a] motion for postconviction relief may
not be filed more than one year after the judgment of conviction is final”).
2