Case Title: Dejesus v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 600, 2008

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2009-07-16T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
DANIEL DEJESUS, 
 
 
§  
 
 
 
 
 
 
§   No. 600, 2008 
 
Defendant Below,  
 
§  
 
Appellant,  
 
 
§   Court Below – Superior Court 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§   of the State of Delaware, 
 
v. 
 
 
 
 
§   in and for New Castle County 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§  
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
§   Cr. I.D. No. 0612016333 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§  
 
Plaintiff Below, 
 
 
§  
 
Appellee. 
 
 
 
§  
 
 
 
 
 
   Submitted:  June 24, 2009 
 
 
 
 
      Decided:  July 16, 2009 
 
Before HOLLAND, BERGER and RIDGELY, Justices. 
 
 
Upon appeal from the Superior Court.  AFFIRMED. 
 
 
Andrew J. Witherell, Esquire, Wilmington, Delaware, for appellant. 
 
 
James T. Wakley, Esquire, Department of Justice, Wilmington, 
Delaware, for appellee. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HOLLAND, Justice: 
 
 
 
2
The defendant-appellant, Daniel Dejesus, appeals from the Superior 
Court’s judgment that he violated the terms of his probation.  Dejesus 
contends that the State produced insufficient evidence at the Violation of 
Probation (“VOP”) hearing for the Superior Court to find, by a 
preponderance of the evidence, that he violated the terms of his probation.  
The State argues that Dejesus’ claim is moot because he pled guilty to one 
count of possession with intent to deliver after the VOP hearing.  The State’s 
argument is correct.  Therefore, the judgment of the Superior Court must be 
affirmed. 
Facts and Procedural History 
 
In May 2007, Dejesus was arrested and subsequently charged with 
Robbery in the First Degree and Assault in the Second Degree.  He pled 
guilty to the assault charge in exchange for dismissal of the robbery charge.  
As a result, Dejesus was sentenced to four years and six months at Level V 
incarceration, suspended after six months for Level III probation.  In 
February 2008, the Superior Court found that Dejesus violated the terms of 
his probation and sentenced him to three years at Level V incarceration, 
suspended after four months for Level III probation. 
On September 17, 2008, Probation Officers Robert Willoughby, Jr., 
and Jeanette Lingafelt, along with New Castle County Police Detectives 
 
3
Brian Shahan and Scott Twigg (collectively, the “officers”), conducted an 
administrative search of Dejesus’ residence.  Officer Willoughby testified at 
the VOP hearing that he had learned from Detective Shahan that an 
informant was arrested for possession of a firearm and the informant had 
purchased that firearm from Dejesus.  The informant reported that he was 
familiar with Dejesus’ residence, that Dejesus lived on the second floor of 
the house, and that he had seen Dejesus with guns and drugs in the house.  
Officer Willoughby testified that he corroborated the informant’s description 
of Dejesus and his residence with Dejesus’ probation officer, Stuart 
Moskowitz, who had made home visits to Dejesus.  Officer Willoughby 
requested and received permission to conduct an administrative search of 
Dejesus’ residence. 
When the officers arrived at the house, Dejesus’ father led them 
upstairs, where the officers witnessed Dejesus running from a room in the 
back of the residence.  The officers met Dejesus in the kitchen area of the 
house and placed him in investigative detention there.  Following protocol, 
the officers proceeded to clear the residence to ensure no one else was home.   
Officer Willoughby testified that as he walked to the back of the 
residence, he heard Dejesus shouting, “Don’t – my bedroom’s all the way 
straight back.  Don’t search any other rooms!”  Officer Willoughby entered a 
 
4
hallway, noting a door on the right and a door at the end of the hallway.  
Despite Dejesus’ protestations, he opened the door on the right to the 
“middle bedroom.”  Inside, Officer Willoughby found a “smorgasbord” of 
drugs and paraphernalia in plain view, including:  marijuana, crack cocaine, 
Xanax pills, Endocet pills, a box cutter, a digital scale, assorted baggies, and 
$80 in cash.  He also found in the middle bedroom Dejesus’ wallet, 
containing his identification card, and various pieces of mail addressed to 
Dejesus.  Dejesus was later searched and found in possession of one Endocet 
pill that matched the pills recovered from the middle bedroom.   
At the VOP hearing, Officer Moskowitz testified that during his 
routine visits to Dejesus, Dejesus identified the back bedroom as his.  
During the administrative search, however, the officers searched the back 
bedroom and found items belonging to Dejesus’ father and clothing that 
appeared to belong to “an older person.”  Officer Willoughby testified that 
during the search Dejesus claimed the middle bedroom belonged to Dejesus’ 
brother.  But, the officers found an identification card belonging to Dejesus’ 
brother in a third bedroom on a separate floor of the residence. 
On September 18, 2008, Dejesus was arrested and subsequently 
charged with Possession With Intent to Deliver a Narcotic Schedule II 
 
5
Controlled Substance (Endocet),1 Possession With Intent to Deliver a 
Narcotic Schedule II Controlled Substance (crack cocaine),2 Possession 
With Intent to Deliver a Non-Narcotic Schedule IV Controlled Substance 
(Xanax),3 Possession With Intent to Deliver a Non-Narcotic Schedule I 
Controlled Substance (marijuana),4 Possession of Drug Paraphernalia,5 and 
Maintaining a Dwelling for Keeping Controlled Substances.6  On September 
22, 2008, an administrative warrant was filed against Dejesus as a result of 
his September 18 arrest.   
A fast-track VOP hearing was held in the Superior Court on 
November 19, 2008.  The Superior Court found that Dejesus was in 
possession of the contraband recovered from his residence, which violated 
the terms of his probation.  The Superior Court then sentenced him to two 
years and eight months at Level V incarceration, suspended after one year 
and eight months for Level III probation.  On December 12, 2008, Dejesus 
filed a pro se notice of appeal from that decision.7 
                                          
 
1 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4751. 
2 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4751. 
3 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4752. 
4 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4752. 
5 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4771. 
6 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4755. 
7 Since that time, trial counsel has acknowledged his continuing obligation to represent 
Dejesus and has filed a formal notice of appeal on February 3, 2009, as well as an 
opening brief. 
 
6
On February 2, 2009, Dejesus pled guilty to Possession With Intent to 
Deliver a Non-Narcotic Schedule I Controlled Substance (marijuana)8 in 
exchange for a nolle prosequi on the remaining charges.  Dejesus was 
sentenced to five years at Level V incarceration, suspended immediately for 
Level III probation. 
 Contention on Appeal 
 
Dejesus claims the Superior Court abused its discretion in finding that 
he violated the terms of his probation, because there was insufficient 
evidence to meet the preponderance of evidence standard.  Specifically, 
Dejesus argues there was no testimony that established that there had been 
surveillance of Dejesus engaging in illegal activity and, because the 
residence was occupied by three males, there was only a one in three chance 
the drugs and paraphernalia belonged to him. 
The State argues that Dejesus’ claim is moot because he pled guilty to 
one count of possession with intent to deliver after the VOP hearing.  An 
issue becomes moot if intervening events cause a party to lose its standing to 
pursue the issue during the pendency of the action.9  A party has standing to 
pursue an issue where: “(1) there is a claim of injury-in-fact; and (2) the 
interest sought to be protected is arguably within the zone of interest to be 
                                          
 
8 Del. Code Ann. tit. 16, § 4752. 
9 See General Motors Corp. v. New Castle County, 701 A.2d 819, 823 (Del. 1997). 
 
7
protected or regulated by the statute or constitutional guarantee in 
question.”10 
VOP Claim Moot 
 
In Frady v. State, the defendant pled guilty to Unlawful Sexual 
Intercourse in the Third Degree and Burglary in the Third Degree.11  After 
thirteen years in prison at Level V, he was released on probation.12  While he 
was on probation, he was charged with seven counts of Rape in the Fourth 
Degree.13  Following a VOP hearing, the Superior Court found the defendant 
had committed Rape in the Fourth Degree and, as a result, had violated the 
terms of his probation.14  The defendant filed an appeal from the Superior 
Court’s decision.15  He then entered an agreement with the State, pleading 
guilty to Unlawful Sexual Contact in the Second Degree in exchange for 
dismissal of the remaining charges.16   
On appeal, this Court held that, by pleading guilty to a crime as part of 
a plea agreement, the defendant’s prior appeal from the VOP hearing was 
moot.17  We explained that the defendant’s voluntary plea established guilt 
                                          
 
10 Id. at 823-24 (quoting Gannett Co. v. State, 565 A.2d 895, 897 (Del. 1989)). 
11 Frady v. State, 2000 WL 1897395, at *1 (Del. Supr. Dec. 19, 2000). 
12 Id. 
13 Id. 
14 Id. 
15 Id. 
16 Id. 
17 Id., at *2. 
 
8
for the crime charged, whether or not his conduct actually satisfied the 
elements of the offense.18  In Frady, we held that the defendant’s evidentiary 
appeal was moot because his later guilty plea supported the Superior Court’s 
determination that he violated the terms of his probation.19 
Dejesus’ claim mirrors the defendant’s claim in Frady.  Dejesus was 
arrested and charged with several crimes.  As a result, the Superior Court 
found him in violation of the terms of his probation.  Subsequently, Dejesus 
pled guilty to one charge of possession with intent to deliver arising out of 
the conduct leading to his arrest.  Like the defendant in Frady, Dejesus’ 
guilty plea supports the Superior Court’s finding that he violated the terms 
of his probation and renders his appeal from that determination moot.  
Conclusion 
 
 
The judgment of the Superior Court is affirmed. 
                                          
 
18 Id., at *1-2. 
19 Id., at *2.