Case Title: Stevens v. State

Citation: 

Docket Number: 180, 2018

State: delaware

Court: Delaware Supreme Court

Date: 2018-12-05T00:00:00Z

Document:
IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
KEITH STEVENS, 
 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
No. 180, 2018 
 
Defendant Below,  
 
§ 
 
Appellant,  
 
 
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Court Below:  Superior Court  
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
of the State of Delaware 
 
v. 
 
 
 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
ID. No. 1608020805 (K) 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
 
 
Plaintiff Below, 
 
 
§ 
 
 
Appellee. 
 
 
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted:  September 18, 2018 
 
 
 
 
   Decided:  December 5, 2018 
 
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and SEITZ, Justices. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
  O R D E R 
 
 
(1) 
The appellant, Keith Stevens, filed this appeal from the Superior 
Court’s order of March 9, 2018, sentencing him for his second violation of probation 
(“VOP”).  The State has moved to affirm the Superior Court’s judgment on the 
ground that it is manifest on the face of Stevens’ opening brief that the appeal is 
without merit. 
 
(2) 
On March 23, 2017, Stevens pled guilty in the Superior Court to a 
charge of failing to report as a registered sex offender and was sentenced to Level V 
incarceration that was suspended immediately for Level II supervision.  Within two 
months, Stevens was charged with his first VOP for having violated certain 
conditions of the Level II supervision.  At the conclusion of a hearing in June 2017, 
 
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the Superior Court found Stevens guilty of VOP and sentenced him to Level V 
incarceration that was immediately suspended for a period of time at the Level IV 
VOP Center followed by Level III probation.  The Superior Court also added to the 
sentence a zero tolerance condition for illicit substances and a condition that Stevens 
be evaluated and monitored by the Treatment Access Center (“TASC”).            
 
(3) 
In December 2017, Stevens was charged with his second VOP for 
having violated certain conditions of his Level III probation.  At the conclusion of 
the VOP hearing on March 9, 2018, the Superior Court found Stevens guilty and 
sentenced him to a period of Level V incarceration suspended after successful 
completion of KEY—a Level V substance abuse treatment program—followed by 
Level III probation with GPS monitoring.  This appeal followed. 
 
(4) 
Stevens claims on appeal that the Superior Court abused its discretion 
when sentencing him to the KEY program because his second VOP was not based 
on conduct related to illicit substances.  Stevens’ claim is without merit.  As is clear 
from the March 9 hearing transcript, the Superior Court sentenced Stevens to the 
KEY program based on a recent evaluation of Stevens by TASC and the 
recommendation of a TASC counselor that the program was warranted.*  This was 
an appropriate use of the Superior Court’s discretion. 
                                          
 
* Hr’g Tr. at 4, 7–8 (Mar. 9, 2018). 
 
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NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the motion to affirm is 
GRANTED.  The judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT:  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/  James T. Vaughn, Jr. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice