Title: James v. State

State: delaware

Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court

Document:

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
DOUGLAS JAMES, 
 
Defendant Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§ 
§  No. 440, 2004 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below—Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware, 
§  in and for New Castle County 
§  Cr. ID 93009386DI  
§ 
§ 
 
 
 
 
 
Submitted: March 16, 2005 
 
 
 
 
   Decided: April 25, 2005 
 
Before BERGER, JACOBS, and RIDGELY, Justices. 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 25th day of April 2005, upon consideration of the opening brief, 
the State’s motion to affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court 
that: 
 
(1) 
The defendant-appellant, Douglas James, filed this appeal from 
the Superior Court’s denial of his motion for correction of sentence.  The 
State has moved to affirm the Superior Court’s judgment on the ground that 
it is manifest on the face of James’ opening brief that his appeal is without 
merit.  We agree and affirm. 
(2) 
The record reflects that James pled guilty in January 1994 to 
second degree murder and possession of a deadly weapon during the 
 
2
commission of a felony.  The terms of the plea agreement, as well as the 
transcript of the guilty plea hearing, reflect that James agreed to a total 
sentence of 25 years without benefit of any reduction.1  In accordance with 
that agreement, the Superior Court sentenced James to thirteen years at 
Level V imprisonment, suspended after ten years for probation, on the 
murder charge.  On the weapon offense, the Superior Court sentenced James 
to fifteen years at Level V imprisonment.   
(3) 
In July 2004, James filed a motion to correct his sentence, 
asserting that the sentence imposed for the weapon offense was outside of 
the sentencing guidelines and thus violated his Sixth Amendment rights as 
set forth in the United States Supreme Court’s decisions in Apprendi v. New 
Jersey2 and Blakely v. Washington.3  The Superior Court denied James’ 
motion.  This appeal followed.  
(4) 
It is well-established that appellate review of a criminal 
sentence is limited in Delaware, with few exceptions, to a determination that 
the sentence is within the statutory limits.4  In this case, James’ 15-year 
sentence on the weapon charge fell within the statutory range of authorized 
                                                 
1 See DEL. SUPER. CT. CRIM. R. 11(e)(1)(C) (deleted effective July 1, 2001). 
2 530 U.S. 466 (2000). 
3 124 S.Ct. 2531 (2004)  
4 See Siple v. State, 701 A.2d 79, 82-83 (Del. 1997). 
 
3
sentences.5  Moreover, James agreed to the imposition of a 15-year sentence 
on the weapon charge, as reflected in his guilty plea colloquy.  Neither 
Apprendi nor Blakely impacts the outcome in James’ case given the 
voluntary and nonbinding nature of Delaware’s sentencing guidelines6 and 
James’ knowing and voluntary agreement to a sentence in excess of those 
guidelines. 
 
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 
Superior Court is AFFIRMED. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
/s/ Jack B. Jacobs 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Justice 
 
                                                 
5 11 Del. C. § 4205(b)(2) (establishing a sentencing range of 2 to 20 years for 
class B felonies). 
6 Accord Benge v. State, 2004 WL 2743431 (Del. Nov. 12, 2004).