Case Title: Whye v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 122, 2004

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2004-10-04T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
LARRY WHYE,                      
           
Defendant Below- 
Appellant,   
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
     
 
 
     
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
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   No. 122, 2004 
 
   Court Below---Superior Court 
   of the State of Delaware, 
   in and for New Castle County  
   Cr. ID No. 0102019156 
                      
 
Submitted: July 30, 2004 
Decided:  October 4, 2004 
 
Before STEELE, Chief Justice, HOLLAND and JACOBS, Justices 
 
 
O R D E R 
 
 
This 4th day of October 2004, upon consideration of the briefs on appeal and 
the record below, it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) 
The defendant-appellant, Larry Whye, filed an appeal from the 
Superior Court’s March 1, 2004 order denying his motion for sentence 
reduction/modification.  We find no merit to the appeal.  Accordingly, we 
AFFIRM. 
 
(2) 
In July 2001, Whye pleaded guilty to Trafficking in Cocaine.  
Sentencing was deferred while Whye was permitted to enter the First Offender 
 
 
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Boot Camp Diversion Program.1  In September 2002, Whye was found to have 
committed a violation of probation (“VOP”).  His probation was revoked and he 
was sentenced to 4 years incarceration at Level V, to be suspended after 3 years for 
1 year Level IV work release, in turn to be suspended after 6 months for 6 months 
at Level III supervision.   
 
(3) 
Whye subsequently moved for correction of an illegal sentence 
arguing that he should be given credit for 166 days he served at Level V prior to 
entering the boot camp program.  The Superior Court initially denied the motion, 
but later modified Whye’s sentence to credit him with 166 days spent at Level V.   
 
(4) 
In this appeal, Whye claims that the Superior Court committed legal 
error by not ordering that 6 months be removed from his 1-year probationary 
sentence.  He argues that, under Del. Code Ann., tit. 11, § 4204(l), the Superior 
Court was permitted to impose only 6 months of probation. 
 
(5) 
Whye misinterprets the statutory language.  Under Section 4202(l), 
the Superior Court is required to impose at least 6 months probation following a 
period of more than 1 year of Level V incarceration.  If the maximum sentence 
permitted by statute is imposed, the Superior Court may impose no more than the 
minimum 6-month probationary period; however, if less than the maximum is 
                                                 
1 Del. Code Ann., tit. 11, § 6705. 
 
 
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imposed, the Superior Court is not limited to imposing a 6-month probationary 
period.2   
 
(6) 
In this case, the Superior Court was authorized to impose a sentence 
of up to 20 years incarceration at Level V for Trafficking in Cocaine.3  If a 20-year 
Level V sentence had been imposed, the Superior Court would have been 
authorized to impose no more than a 6-month period of probation.  Because only a 
4-year sentence was imposed, however, the Superior Court did not err by 
sentencing Whye to a total of 1 year of probation. 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior 
Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Myron T. Steele 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chief Justice 
  
 
 
                                                 
2 Larson v. State, Del. Supr., No. 366, 1994, Walsh, J. (Apr. 13, 1995). 
3 Del. Code Ann., tit. 16, § 4753A; Del. Code Ann., tit. 11, § 4205(b) (2).