Case Title: Thomas v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 240, 2019

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2019-10-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
JAMES A. THOMAS,1 
 
Defendant Below, 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below, 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 240, 2019 
§ 
§  Court Below—Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§   
§  Cr. ID No. 93K01153DI 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted:   September 5, 2019 
 
 
 
 
Decided: 
October 14, 2019 
 
Before VALIHURA, SEITZ, and TRAYNOR, Justices. 
 
 
 
O R D E R 
 
Upon consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the appellee’s motion to 
affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
(1) 
The appellant, James A. Mapp, Jr., filed this appeal from the Superior 
Court’s denial of a motion for correction of illegal sentence.  The State has moved 
to affirm the judgment below on the ground that it is manifest on the face of Mapp’s 
opening brief that his appeal is without merit.  We agree and affirm. 
(2) 
In 1993, Mapp pleaded guilty to Unlawful Sexual Intercourse First 
Degree and Unlawful Sexual Intercourse Second Degree.  After a presentence 
                                               
 
1 It appears that after the appellant filed this appeal, he officially changed his name to James A. 
Mapp, Jr.  We therefore refer to the appellant as “Mapp” in the text of this order. 
2 
 
investigation, the Superior Court sentenced Mapp to life in prison, plus twenty years.  
He did not file a direct appeal.  Since then, Mapp has filed multiple motions for 
postconviction relief or for correction or reduction of his sentence, as well as a 
federal petition for a writ of habeas corpus.2   
(3) 
In April 2019, Mapp filed a motion for correction of illegal sentence 
under Superior Court Criminal Rule 35(a).  As he had in several of his prior motions, 
Mapp again challenged his conviction and sentence on the basis that he was not 
legally competent when he entered his guilty plea because he was under the influence 
of certain medications.  The Superior Court denied Mapp’s motion for correction of 
sentence on the basis that the issues set forth in his motion had already been litigated 
and decided.  This appeal followed. 
(4) 
We review the denial of a motion for correction of sentence for abuse 
of discretion.3  To the extent that the claim involves a question of law, we review the 
claim de novo.4  A sentence is illegal if it exceeds statutory 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 
                                               
 
2 E.g., Thomas v. Snyder, 2001 WL 1297812 (D. Del. Oct. 3, 2001); Thomas v. State, 2019 WL 
211812 (Del. Jan. 15, 2019); Thomas v. State, 2015 WL 3551981 (Del. June 5, 2015); Thomas v. 
State, 1997 WL 45063 (Del. Jan. 23, 1997). 
3 Fountain v. State, 2014 WL 4102069, at *1 (Del. Aug. 19, 2014). 
4 Id. 
3 
 
uncertain as to its substance, or is a sentence that the judgment of conviction did not 
authorize.5 
(5) 
The Superior Court did not err in denying Mapp’s motion for correction 
of sentence.  Mapp’s attempt to use a motion for correction of sentence as a means 
to withdraw his guilty plea is outside the limited scope of Rule 35(a).6  As the 
Superior Court recognized, Mapp’s arguments have previously been considered, and 
the Superior Court and this Court have held that his guilty plea was entered 
knowingly and voluntarily.7  He cannot relitigate these issues, which are barred by 
the procedural hurdles of Superior Court Criminal Rule 61, in the guise of a motion 
for correction of sentence.8 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the Motion to Affirm is 
GRANTED and the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Gary F. Traynor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
                                               
 
5 Brittingham v. State, 705 A.2d 577, 578 (Del. 1998). 
6 Warnick v. State, 2017 WL 1056130 (Del. Mar. 20, 2017). 
7 See Thomas, 1997 WL 45063 (affirming denial of motion for postconviction relief on the basis 
of and for the reasons set forth in the Superior Court Commissioner’s report dated February 22, 
1996); Motion to Affirm, Exhibit H (Commissioner’s 1996 report). 
8 See Cook v. State, 2015 WL 6322220 (Del. Oct. 21, 2015) (affirming Superior Court’s conclusion 
that a motion for correction of illegal sentence was not, in fact, challenging the legality of the 
appellant’s sentence but instead was challenging the factual basis for his guilty plea; the motion 
was properly considered as a motion for postconviction relief under Rule 61, and it did not 
overcome the procedural bars).