Title: Bryant v. State

State: delaware

Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
JESSE J. BRYANT, JR.,  
 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
No. 191, 2014 
 
Defendant Below,  
 
§ 
 
Appellant,  
 
 
§ 
Court Below—Superior Court  
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
the State of Delaware in and for 
 
v. 
 
 
 
 
§ 
New Castle County 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
§ 
Cr. ID No. 92004686DI 
 
 
 
 
 
 
§ 
 
 
Plaintiff Below, 
 
 
§ 
 
 
Appellee. 
 
 
 
§ 
 
Submitted: October 8, 2014 
Decided: 
December 17, 2014 
 
Before STRINE, Chief Justice, RIDGELY and VALIHURA, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 17th day of December 2014, upon consideration of the appellant’s 
opening brief, the appellee’s motion to affirm filed under Supreme Court 
Rule 25(a), and the Superior Court record, it appears to the Court that: 
(1) 
The appellant, Jesse J. Bryant, Jr. filed this appeal from the 
Superior Court’s March 28, 2014 denial of his motion for correction of 
sentence under Superior Court Criminal Rule 35 (hereinafter “Rule 35”).  
The appellee, State of Delaware, has filed a motion to affirm the Superior 
Court judgment on the ground that it is manifest on the face of Bryant’s 
opening brief that the appeal is without merit.  We agree and affirm. 
2 
 
(2) 
In 1979, a Superior Court jury found Bryant guilty of Murder in 
the First Degree, Attempted Murder, two counts of Conspiracy in the First 
Degree, two counts of Possession of a Deadly Weapon During the 
Commission of a Felony, Burglary in the First Degree, and Conspiracy in 
the Second Degree.  Bryant was sentenced to two consecutive terms of life 
imprisonment, plus thirty years.  On direct appeal, we affirmed the Superior 
Court judgment. 
(3) 
In 1992, based on our 1976 decision in State v. Spence, the 
Superior Court corrected the life sentence imposed for murder in the first 
degree in Bryant’s case to provide that the sentence was not subject to 
parole.1  On appeal, we affirmed the correction of Bryant’s sentence, holding 
that “[u]nder the governing law . . . the Superior Court judge had no 
discretion in sentencing whatsoever—he had to sentence Bryant to life 
imprisonment without the possibility of parole.”2  Furthermore, in 2007, 
when affirming the Superior Court denial of Bryant’s motion for 
postconviction relief, we again held that “the Superior Court did not enhance 
Bryant’s sentence [by providing that the sentence was not subject to parole] 
                                          
 
1 In State v. Spence, 367 A.2d 983 (Del. 1976), we held that the appropriate punishment 
for first degree murder was life imprisonment without possibility of parole. 
2 Bryant v. State, 1993 WL 22040, at *1 (Del. Jan. 8, 1993). 
3 
 
but merely corrected the sentencing order to conform to the dictates of 
Delaware law.”3 
(4) 
In November 2013, Bryant filed a motion for correction of 
sentence under Rule 35, claiming that the 1992 corrected sentence was 
illegal because the law in effect at the time he committed the offenses did 
not expressly prohibit a life sentence without benefit of parole.  Bryant 
argued that our decision in State v. Spence did not apply to his case because 
he was not one of the nine defendants named in that certification proceeding.  
By order dated March 28, 2014, the Superior Court denied Bryant’s motion 
for correction of sentence.  This appeal followed. 
(5) 
Bryant has provided no support for his claim that our decision 
in State v. Spence was limited to the nine defendants named in that 
proceeding.  To the contrary, in our October 1976 Opinion in State v. 
Spence, we specifically noted that, in addition to the nine named defendants: 
[T]here are three first degree murder cases now 
pending in the Superior Court in which the 
imposition of the death sentence under § 4209 is 
being withheld pending this decision; and there are 
at least 13 charges of murder in the first degree 
presently awaiting indictment or trial in the 
Superior Court.4 
 
                                          
 
3 Bryant v. State, 2007 WL 2049781, at *2 (Del. July 18, 2007). 
4 State v. Spence, 367 A.2d 983, 985 n.2 (Del. 1976).  
4 
 
Bryant was indicted in July 1976.5  In view of our prior decisions and 
Bryant’s failure to provide any change in law or circumstance requiring that 
we revisit the issues he raises on appeal, we conclude that the Superior Court 
did not err in denying Bryant’s motion for correction of illegal sentence. 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the State’s motion to 
affirm is GRANTED.  The judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Karen L. Valihura 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
                                          
 
5 See docket at 1, State v. Bryant, Del. Super., Cr. ID No. 92004686DI (July 14, 1976).