Case Title: Payne v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 18, 2019

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2019-08-15T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
JOSHUA PAYNE, 
§ 
 
 
§ No. 18, 2019 
 
Defendant Below, 
§  
 
Appellant, 
§ Court Below: Superior Court 
 
 
§ of the State of Delaware  
 
v. 
§  
 
 
§ Cr. ID: N1512010138 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
§  
 
 
§ 
 
Plaintiff Below, 
§  
 
Appellee. 
§ 
 
Submitted: August 14, 2019 
Decided: 
August 15, 2019 
 
Before VALIHURA, SEITZ, and TRAYNOR, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 15th day of August, 2019, after careful consideration of the parties’ briefs 
and the record on appeal, it appears to the Court that the judgment of the Superior 
Court should be affirmed on the basis of and for the reasons stated in its December 
12, 2018 order.  The Superior Court correctly concluded that the notaries-public 
statute found in Chapter 43 of Title 29 of the Delaware Code does not govern the 
form and content of a certification provided by the Director of the Division of Motor 
Vehicles under 21 Del. C. § 2736.  The appellant’s argument that his driving record 
was not properly certified by the Director is further undermined by 21 Del. C. § 
2 
 
305(i), which provides that ‘[a]ny . . . certified record supplied by the Department1 
pursuant to [Title 21] shall contain the signature or facsimile signature of the 
Director or of another official of the Division who is a custodian of such records and 
is designated by the Director to sign such records or have his or her signature fixed.”  
It is clear that the driving record admitted at the appellant’s trial complied with this 
section. 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior 
Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Gary F. Traynor 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
                                         
1 “Department” means the Department of Transportation of this State acting directly through its 
duly authorized officers and agents.  21 Del. C. § 101(15).  The Secretary of the Department of 
Transportation has the power and duty to appoint the Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles.  
29 Del. C. § 8404(2)d.