Case Title: Barksdale v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 202, 2020

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2021-04-14T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
WILLIAM O. BARKSDALE, 
 
 
Defendant Below, 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below, 
Appellee. 
§ 
§ 
§  No. 202, 2020 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below–Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§   
§  Cr. ID No.  1403019776 (N) 
§                                          
§ 
§   
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: February 15, 2021 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: April 14, 2021 
 
Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and VAUGHN, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
After careful consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the State’s motion 
to affirm, and the Superior Court record, we find it evident that the judgment below 
should be affirmed on the basis of and for the reasons assigned by the Superior Court 
in its well-reasoned decision dated April 30, 2020.1  The appellant, William 
Barksdale, argues for the first time on appeal that his co-defendant’s admission that 
he stored drugs where the drugs that led to Barksdale’s criminal charges were found 
is new evidence of Barksdale’s actual innocence.  But the co-defendant’s confession 
is neither new evidence nor evidence that Barksdale is actually innocent of the 
 
1 State v. Barksdale, 2020 WL 2096148 (Del. Super. Ct. Apr. 30, 2020). 
2 
 
charges to which, as the Superior Court found and this Court affirmed, he knowingly, 
intelligently, and voluntarily pleaded guilty.2 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the State’s motion to affirm is 
GRANTED, and the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED.   
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Karen L. Valihura__________________ 
Justice  
 
 
 
2 State v. Barksdale, 2015 WL 5676895, at *5 (Del. Super. Ct. Sept. 21, 2015) (denying 
Barksdale’s motion to withdraw his guilty plea and, relevant here, finding that (i) Barksdale had 
knowingly and voluntarily pleaded guilty and (ii) Barksdale did not have a basis to assert that he 
was legally innocent), aff’d, 2016 WL 2585892 (Del. Apr. 6, 2016).