Title: Piper v. State

State: delaware

Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
ROBERT J. PIPER, 
 
 
Defendant Below, 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 220, 2019 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below–Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§ 
§  C.A. No. S19M-05-001 
§   
§ 
§   
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: October 3, 2019 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: November 25, 2019 
 
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and TRAYNOR, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
After careful consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the State’s 
motion to affirm, and the record on appeal, it appears to the Court that: 
(1) 
The appellant, Robert J. Piper, filed this appeal from the Superior 
Court’s denial of his petition for a writ of habeas corpus.  The State has filed a 
motion to affirm the judgment below on the ground that it is manifest on the face 
of Piper’s opening brief that his appeal is without merit.  We agree and affirm.  
(2) 
The record reflects that, on February 26, 2019, a Justice of the Peace 
sentenced Piper in case #1707012046 to one year of Level V incarceration, 
suspended for 120 days of Level IV supervision to be served at the Violation of 
Probation Center.  A different Justice of the Peace discharged Piper from probation 
in case #1612004031 on March 20, 2019.  Piper attempted to appeal his sentence 
 
2 
in case #1707012046 to the Court of Common Pleas.  For reasons that are unclear 
and irrelevant to this appeal, the Court of Common Pleas determined Piper 
intended to appeal his sentence in case #1612004031.  Because Piper had been 
discharged from probation on March 20, 2019 in that case, the Court of Common 
Pleas deemed Piper’s appeal moot.   
(3) 
On May 1, 2019, Piper filed a petition for habeas corpus in the 
Superior Court.  Piper asserted that he was entitled to be released from 
incarceration because the Court of Common Pleas determined that he had been 
discharged from probation on March 20, 2019, and, therefore, he was being held 
illegally.  The Superior Court concluded that Piper was being lawfully detained in 
case #1707012046 and denied the petition on May 10, 2019.  This appeal followed. 
(4) 
After careful consideration of Piper’s opening brief and the State’s 
motion to affirm, we conclude that the judgment of the Superior Court should be 
affirmed.  In reviewing a denial of habeas corpus relief, this Court has held that 
“the only material fact to be ascertained upon a petition for a writ of habeas corpus 
is the existence of a judgment of conviction of a court of competent jurisdiction 
and a valid commitment of the prisoner to enforce the sentence.”1  The record 
reflects that the Justice of the Peace’s commitment of Piper in case #1707012046 is 
                                                 
1 Skinner v. State, 135 A.2d 612, 613 (Del. 1957). 
 
3 
valid on its face, and Piper was being held pursuant to that valid commitment.2  
Thus, there is no basis for a writ of habeas corpus.   
 NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior 
Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Karen L. Valihura 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
                                                 
2 On August 14, 2019—after the Superior Court denied Piper’s petition—a Justice of the Peace 
found Piper in violation of the terms of his probation in case #1707012046 and sentenced him to 
one year of Level V incarceration, suspended after 120 days.  Accordingly, Piper remains 
lawfully detained.