Case Title: Johnson v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 355, 2013

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2013-11-13T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
JAMES JOHNSON,  
 
Petitioner Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE,  
 
           Respondent Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 355, 2013 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below─Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§  in and for New Castle County 
§  Cr. ID No. 30307654DI 
§  C.A. No. N13M-06-090 
§ 
§ 
 
                                         Submitted: October 11, 2013 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: November 13, 2013 
 
Before HOLLAND, JACOBS and RIDGELY, Justices 
 
 
 
 
 
 
O R D E R  
 
 
This 13th day of November 2013, upon consideration of the briefs of 
the parties and the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The petitioner-appellant, James Johnson, filed an appeal from 
the Superior Court’s June 20, 2013 order denying his petition for a writ of 
habeas corpus.  We find no merit to the appeal.  Accordingly, we affirm. 
 
(2) 
The record before us reflects that Johnson was indicted on 
charges of Possession With Intent to Deliver Cocaine and Possession of 
Cocaine in January 1986.  In April 1986, he was indicted on additional 
charges of Robbery in the First Degree, Conspiracy in the Second Degree, 
Kidnapping in the Second Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During 
 
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the Commission of a Felony and Possession of a Deadly Weapon By a 
Person Prohibited.  Finally, in September 1987, he was indicted on charges 
of Burglary in the Third Degree, Conspiracy in the Second Degree, Felony 
Theft and Criminal Mischief.   
 
(3) 
On November 2, 1987, Johnson pleaded guilty to Robbery in 
the First Degree, Possession With Intent to Deliver Cocaine and Burglary in 
the Third Degree in exchange for which the State dismissed the remaining 
charges in all three indictments.  Johnson was sentenced to ten years of 
Level V incarceration on the robbery conviction.  He was sentenced to two 
years at Level V on the possession with intent to deliver conviction.  Finally, 
he was sentenced to three years at Level V on the burglary conviction.   
 
(4) 
On January 15, 1993, Johnson was released from prison on 
parole.  In September 1993, he was arrested on new felony charges.  In 
February 1995, Johnson was found guilty in a jury trial of Robbery in the 
First Degree, Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the Commission of a 
Felony, Conspiracy in the Second Degree and Possession of a Deadly 
Weapon By a Person Prohibited.  In June 1995, he was sentenced to a total 
of twenty-four years at Level V, to be suspended after twenty years for 
decreasing levels of supervision.  This Court affirmed Johnson’s convictions 
 
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on direct appeal.1  This Court also affirmed the Superior Court’s denial of 
Johnson’s motion for postconviction relief.2   
 
 
(5) 
On December 24, 1997, as the result of those new convictions, 
the Board of Parole revoked Johnson’s parole and re-imposed the remainder 
of his previous sentence---seven years, one month and three days at Level V-
--to be served consecutively to his sentences on the new convictions.  Over 
the next several years, Johnson filed multiple motions for sentence 
reduction, all of which were denied by the Superior Court.  In or about 
February 2012, the Department of Correction submitted an application for a 
reduction of Johnson’s sentence to the Board of Parole pursuant to Del. 
Code Ann. tit. 11, §4217.  The Board of Parole recommended that the 
application for sentence reduction be granted.   
 
(6) 
On May 16, 2012, the Superior Court granted the application 
for sentence reduction and modified Johnson’s sentence to suspend all of his 
Level V time.  The record reflects that Johnson subsequently was placed in 
the Level IV Crest Program and then in Level IV Work Release.  The 
Superior Court’s May 16, 2012 order later was vacated by the Superior 
Court by order dated August 22, 2012.  Johnson did not file an appeal from 
that order.  As the Superior Court explained to Johnson in its February 21, 
                                                 
1 Johnson v. State, 1996 WL 69829 (Del. Feb. 9, 1996). 
2 Johnson v. State, 1996 WL 683779 (Del. Nov. 19, 1996). 
 
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2013 letter, the previous order was vacated because an investigation revealed 
that not all of Johnson’s sentences had been brought to the attention of the 
Board of Parole by the Department of Correction, placing in doubt the 
Board’s recommendation that Johnson’s sentence be reduced.      
 
(7) 
Johnson subsequently filed another motion for sentence 
reduction, which was denied by the Superior Court on October 3, 2012.  The 
record does not reflect that Johnson filed an appeal from that order.  
Johnson’s two petitions for habeas corpus relief also were denied by the 
Superior Court.  Johnson’s instant appeal is from the denial of his second 
petition for a writ of habeas corpus. 
 
(8) 
In his appeal, Johnson claims that a) the Superior Court relied 
on erroneous information when it vacated its May 16, 2012 order suspending 
his Level V time; and b) the Department of Correction has failed to submit 
corrected information as directed by the Superior Court.   
 
(9) 
In Delaware, the writ of habeas corpus provides relief on a very 
limited basis.3  Habeas corpus only provides “an opportunity for one 
illegally confined or incarcerated to obtain judicial review of the jurisdiction 
of the court ordering the commitment.”4  Habeas corpus relief is not 
available to “[p]ersons committed or detained on a charge of treason or 
                                                 
3 Hall v. Carr, 692 A.2d 888, 891 (Del. 1997). 
4 Id. 
 
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felony, the species whereof is plainly and fully set forth in the 
commitment.”5  Moreover, the extraordinary writ process may not be used as 
a substitute for a timely-filed appeal.6 
 
(10) In this case, Johnson is being held at Level V pursuant to the 
Superior Court’s June 5, 1995 sentencing order as well as the Board of 
Parole’s December 24, 1997 reinstatement of the remaining Level V time on 
his November 2, 1987 Level V sentences.  Although the Superior Court 
reduced Johnson’s sentence by order dated May 16, 2012, it subsequently 
vacated that order on August 22, 2012 based upon information that was not 
originally presented to the Superior Court.  Johnson did not file an appeal 
from the Superior Court’s August 22, 2012 order or its subsequent order 
dated October 3, 2012, which denied his latest motion for sentence 
reduction.  He instead filed two petitions for habeas corpus relief.  Johnson 
may not use a petition for a writ of habeas corpus as a substitute for a 
timely-filed appeal.  Based upon all of the above, we conclude that the 
Superior Court properly denied Johnson’s petition for a writ of habeas 
corpus.    
 
                                                 
5 Id. (quoting Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, §6902(1)). 
6 In re Barbee, 693 A.2d 317, 319 (Del. 1997). 
 
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NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 
Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Randy J. Holland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice