Case Title: Brown v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 455, 2012

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2012-12-17T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ROBERT BROWN, 
 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
No. 455, 2012 
 
Defendant-Below,  
§ 
 
Appellant, 
§ 
Court Below—Superior Court  
 
§ 
of the State of Delaware, in and  
v. 
§ 
for New Castle County 
 
§ 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
§  
Cr. ID No. 1201003552 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
 
Plaintiff-Below, 
 
§ 
 
Appellee. 
 
 
§ 
 
Submitted: September 20, 2012 
Decided: 
December 17, 2012 
 
Before HOLLAND, JACOBS and RIDGELY, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
 
This 17th day of December 2012, upon consideration of the appellant’s 
opening brief and the appellee’s motion to affirm, it appears to the Court 
that: 
(1) On February 29, 2012, Robert Brown, the defendant-below, pled 
guilty to one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited.  The 
Superior Court sentenced Brown to eight years of incarceration, suspended 
for eighteen months of probation.  On June 14, 2012, Brown was charged 
with a violation of probation (“VOP”) for having allegedly committed 
several new criminal offenses and for having possessed illegal drugs.  After 
2 
 
a contested VOP hearing on August 8, 2012, the Superior Court found 
Brown guilty of VOP and sentenced him to eight years of incarceration 
suspended after three years for one year of probation.  This appeal followed. 
(2) In his opening brief on appeal, Brown claims that at the contested 
VOP hearing the Superior Court erroneously adjudged him guilty on the 
basis of a dismissed motor vehicle charge.  Brown’s claim is not subject to 
appellate review, however, in the absence of a transcript of the VOP hearing, 
which Brown has failed to provide as the rules of this Court require.1 
(3) Brown next claims that the three-year VOP sentence imposed by 
the Superior Court was excessive, because he was charged with only one 
instance of violating curfew.  Brown’s claim is unsupported by the record 
and is otherwise meritless.  
(4) After adjudging a defendant guilty of VOP, the Superior Court 
has the authority to sentence the defendant to any period of incarceration up 
to and including the balance of incarceration remaining on the original 
sentence.2  In this case, after finding Brown guilty of VOP, the Superior 
Court properly sentenced Brown to three of the eight years of incarceration 
that were suspended on his original sentence. 
                                          
 
1 Tricoche v. State, 525 A.2d 151, 154 (Del. 1987). 
2 DEL. CODE ANN. tit. 11, § 4334(c) (2007). 
3 
 
(5) The appellee, the State of Delaware, has also moved to affirm on 
the ground that it is manifest on the face of Brown’s opening brief that his 
appeal is without merit.  Having carefully considered the parties’ positions 
on appeal and the available record, we agree with the State and affirm the 
Superior Court judgment. 
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/ Jack B. Jacobs 
 
 
 
 
        Justice