Smith v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
BLAKE SMITH, §
§
Defendant Below, § No. 161, 2024
Appellant, §
§ Court Below: Superior Court
v. § of the State of Delaware
§
STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID No. 2307016090 (N)
§
Appellee. §
Submitted: June 14, 2024
Decided: July 1, 2024
ORDER
(1) On April 18, 2024, the appellant filed this appeal from a Superior Court
order denying a motion for sentence modification. The Senior Court Clerk sent the
appellant a letter directing him to pay the filing fee or to file a motion and affidavit
to proceed in forma pauperis by May 7, 2024. On May 9, 2024, the Chief Deputy
Clerk sent another letter directing the appellant to either file a motion and affidavit
to proceed in forma pauperis or pay the filing fee by May 23, 2024, or a notice to
show cause would issue.
(2) On May 29, 2024, the Chief Deputy Clerk issued a notice, sent by
certified mail, directing the appellant to show cause why the Court should not
dismiss the appeal for the appellant’s failure to either pay the Supreme Court filing
fee or file a motion to proceed in forma pauperis as directed in the earlier letters.
The notice to show cause directed the appellant to respond within ten days and
advised that if the appellant did not respond, dismissal of the appeal would be
deemed to be unopposed. On June 3, 2024, the Court received the certified-mail
receipt indicating that the notice had been delivered.
(3) The appellant having failed to respond to the notice to show cause
within the required ten-day period,1 dismissal of this action is deemed to be
unopposed.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED, under Supreme Court Rules 3(b)
and 29(b), that the appeal is DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ N. Christopher Griffiths
Justice
1
The Court notes that the appellant also has not filed an opening brief, which was due June 7,
2024.
2