Case Title: Dennison v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 27, 2006

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2006-07-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
MICHAEL DENNISON, 
 
Defendant Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 27, 2006 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below─Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§  in and for Kent County 
§  Cr.A. No. IK05-01-0804 
§ 
§ 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: May 26, 2006 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: July 14, 2006 
 
Before HOLLAND, BERGER and JACOBS, Justices 
 
 
 
 
 
 
O R D E R  
 
 
This 14th day of July 2006, upon consideration of the briefs on appeal 
and the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The defendant-appellant, Michael Dennison, filed an appeal 
from the Superior Court’s December 15, 2005 order denying his motion for 
correction of illegal sentence pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 
35(a).  We AFFIRM the Superior Court’s order insofar as it found that 
Dennison’s 3-year Level V sentence was within the statutorily authorized 
limits.  However, because the Superior Court failed to impose the statutorily 
 
2
mandated 6-month transition period,1 this matter must be REMANDED to 
the Superior Court so that the transition period may be added to Dennison’s 
sentence. 
 
(2) 
In October 2005, Dennison pleaded guilty to a lesser-included 
charge of Attempted Burglary in the Third Degree.  Dennison was sentenced 
to 3 years of Level V incarceration.  The Superior Court’s sentencing order 
did not include the statutorily mandated 6-month transition period.   
 
(3) 
In this appeal, Dennison claims that his sentence is illegal 
because: a) it contains a period of Level V incarceration that exceeds the 
Sentencing Accountability Commission (“SENTAC”) guidelines; and b) it 
does not contain the statutorily mandated 6-month transition period. 
 
(4) 
Rule 35(a) permits the Superior Court to correct an illegal 
sentence “at any time.”  Relief under Rule 35(a) is available when the 
sentence imposed exceeds the statutorily authorized limits, violates double 
jeopardy, is ambiguous with respect to the time and manner in which it is to 
be served, is internally contradictory, omits a term required to be imposed by 
statute, is uncertain as to its substance, or is a sentence that the judgment of 
conviction did not authorize.2 
                                                 
1 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 4204(1). 
2 Brittingham v. State, 705 A.2d 577, 578 (Del. 1998). 
 
3
 
(5) 
There is no statutory or constitutional right to challenge a 
sentence solely on the basis that it exceeds the SENTAC guidelines.3  The 
maximum allowable sentence for third degree burglary, a Class F felony 
offense, is 3 years of Level V imprisonment.4  The maximum allowable 
sentence for attempted third degree burglary is the same as that for third 
degree burglary.5  As such, Dennison’s 3-year Level V sentence is within the 
statutory limits.  Therefore, Dennison is not entitled to relief under Rule 
35(a). 
 
(6) 
Delaware law requires that, whenever the Superior Court 
imposes a period of Level V incarceration for one or more offenses that 
totals 1 year or more, it must include as part of the sentence a period of 
custodial supervision at Level IV, III or II for a period of not less than 6 
months “to facilitate the transition of the individual back into society.”6  
Dennison is correct that the Superior Court’s sentencing order does not 
include the statutorily mandated 6-month transition period. 
 
 
 
                                                 
3 Mayes v. State, 604 A.2d 839, 844-46 (Del. 1992). 
4 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, §§ 824 and 4205(b) (6). 
5 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 531. 
6 Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 4204(l). 
 
4
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Superior Court’s 
judgment is AFFIRMED insofar as it found Dennison’s 3-year Level V 
sentence to be within the statutorily authorized limits.  However, this matter 
is hereby REMANDED to the Superior Court so that the transition period 
mandated by Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, § 4204(l) may be added to Dennison’s 
sentence.    
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Carolyn Berger 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice