Case Title: Person v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 284, 2003

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2003-12-10T00:00:00Z

Document:
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   IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
MARSHALL L. PERSON,                       
           
Defendant Below- 
Appellant,   
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE,  
     
 
 
     
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
 
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   No. 284, 2003 
 
   Court Below – Superior Court 
   of the State of Delaware, 
   in and for New Castle County 
   Cr. A. No.VN01-12-0410-01
 
Submitted:   October 31, 2003 
   Decided:   December 10, 2003 
 
Before HOLLAND, STEELE and JACOBS, Justices 
 
 
O R D E R 
 
 
This tenth day of December 2003, upon consideration of the briefs on appeal 
and the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The defendant-appellant, Marshall L. Person, filed an appeal from the 
Superior Court’s May 12, 2003 order denying his motion for correction of 
sentence.  Because Person was entitled to credit for time served at Level V 
awaiting placement in the first offender boot camp diversion program,1 the 
judgment of the Superior Court must be reversed and the matter remanded to the 
                                                 
1 DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 11, § 6712 (2001). 
 
 
 
 
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Superior Court for application of the credit time to Person’s current Level V 
sentence.   
 
(2) 
On November 21, 2001, Person was arrested and held at Level V on 
secured bail in connection with two drug charges.  On January 23, 2002, Person 
pleaded guilty to Trafficking in Cocaine and was given a mandatory sentence of 
three years incarceration at Level V, to be followed by probation.  Sentencing was 
deferred pending Person’s successful completion of the boot camp program.  It 
appears that Person was held at Level V until he entered the program on June 4, 
2002 and that he graduated from the program on December 3, 2002.  On December 
27, 2002, however, Person committed a violation of probation (“VOP”).  On 
January 14, 2003, his deferred three-year Level V sentence was imposed by the 
Superior Court. 
 
(3) 
Person originally appealed the Superior Court’s denial of his motion 
for correction of sentence in June 2003, arguing that he was entitled to credit for 
the time he spent at Level V waiting to enter boot camp as well as the time spent in 
the boot camp program.  The State moved to affirm the judgment of the Superior 
Court on the ground that Person was not entitled to a credit for any time spent at 
Level V.2  By Order dated August 20, 2003, this Court granted the motion as to the 
                                                 
2 SUPR. CT. R. 25(a). 
 
 
 
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time spent by Person in the boot camp program,3 but denied the motion as to the 
time spent at Level V waiting to enter boot camp.4    
 
(4) 
The State has now filed an answering brief, which takes the position 
that Person is entitled to credit for the time he spent at Level V waiting to enter 
boot camp and that the matter should be remanded to the Superior Court for 
application of the credit to the Level V VOP sentence that Person is now serving.5  
Accordingly, this matter will be remanded to the Superior Court for the issuance of 
an amended sentencing order in VN01-12-0410-01 which credits Person with the 
appropriate amount of Level V time. 
 
(5) 
Rule 3.8 of the Delaware Lawyers’ Rules of Professional Conduct is 
titled “Special responsibilities of a prosecutor.”  The Commentary to that rule 
provides “[a] prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not 
simply that of an advocate.”  The prosecutor in this appeal, John Williams, 
Esquire, is commended for discharging that important responsibility in accordance 
with the highest tradition of the Delaware Bar. 
                                                 
3 DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 11, § 6712(h). 
 
4 Zecca v. State, Del. Supr., No. 140, 2002, Steele, J. (Aug. 9, 2002) (a defendant is entitled to 
credit for time spent at Level V waiting to enter the boot camp program). 
 
5 VN01-12-0410-01.  The State represents that it has reviewed the Department of Correction 
records regarding Person’s sentences and that they reflect no credit for 6 months and 14 days 
Person spent at Level V waiting to enter the boot camp program. 
 
 
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NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior 
Court is REVERSED and this matter is REMANDED to the Superior Court for 
further action in accordance with this Order. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Randy J. Holland 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice