IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

JASON J. COLLINS,

Defendant BelowAppellant,

v.

STATE OF DELAWARE,

Plaintiff BelowAppellee.

§

§ No. 17, 2019

§

§

§

§ Court Below—Superior Court

§ of the State of Delaware

§ 

§ Cr. ID Nos. 1708012957 (K)

§ 1708015150

§

Submitted: February 27, 2019

 Decided: March 15, 2019

Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VAUGHN and SEITZ, Justices.

O R D E R

Upon consideration of the appellant’s opening brief, the State’s 

motion to affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court that:

(1) The defendant-appellant, Jason Collins, filed this appeal from 

the Superior Court’s order denying his motion for review of sentence.

1 The 

State has moved to affirm the Superior Court’s judgment on the ground that 

it is manifest on the face of Collins’ opening brief that his appeal is without 

merit. We agree and affirm.

(2) The record reflects that Collins pleaded guilty on July 25, 2018, 

to one count of drug dealing and one count of issuing a bad check in excess 

 

1

 On March 8, 2019, Collins filed a motion for expedited procedure under Supreme 

Court Rule 25(e). The issuance of this decision renders the Rule 25(e) motion moot.
2

of $1,500. On the drug dealing charge, the Superior Court sentenced Collins

to ten years of Level V incarceration, suspended for twelve months of Level 

IV home confinement, followed by one year on Level III probation. On the 

bad check charge, the Superior Court sentenced him to two years of Level V

incarceration, suspended for one year on Level III probation. 

(3) Collins later absconded from probation. An administrative 

warrant was obtained and the Superior Court held a violation of probation 

(“VOP”) hearing on October 15, 2018. The Superior Court found Collins 

violated his probation for his drug dealing and bad check convictions. 

Contemporaneously, the Superior Court also found Collins had violated his 

probation for two earlier felony convictions: a 2009 conviction for second 

degree forgery and a 2014 conviction for identity theft. For his 2009 second 

degree forgery conviction, Collins was serving a sentence of two years of 

Level V incarceration, suspended for six months on Level II probation, to be 

followed by one year on Level I probation for restitution purposes only. 

Collins was also serving a sentence of two years of Level V of incarceration, 

suspended for six months on Level II probation, to be followed by one year 

on Level I probation for restitution purposes only for his 2014 identity theft 

conviction. At the VOP hearing, the Superior Court resentenced Collins as 

follows: (i) on the VOP for the drug dealing conviction, ten years of Level V 

incarceration with credit for nine days previously served, suspended after six 
3

months of Level V incarceration, followed by six months of Level IV work 

release, followed by one year on Level III probation; (ii) on the VOP for the 

forgery conviction, one year of Level V incarceration, suspended for one 

year on Level III probation; (iii) on the VOP for the identity theft conviction, 

one year and six months of Level V incarceration, suspended for one year on

Level III probation; and (iv) for the VOP on the bad check conviction, two 

years of Level V incarceration, suspended for one year on Level III

probation. 

(4) Collins filed a motion for review of sentence with the Superior 

Court on December 7, 2018, seeking six months of Level V credit time and 

requesting that the Level IV work release portion of his sentence be 

modified to Level III probation. The Superior Court denied Collins’ motion, 

concluding that Level IV work release was an appropriate placement for 

Collins in light of his criminal history. Further, after reviewing a report 

prepared by the Investigative Services Office, the Superior Court found 

Collins had, in fact, received credit for the time he had previously served at 

Level V. This appeal followed.

(5) The Court has reviewed the parties’ contentions and the record 

carefully. The Court finds no factual or legal basis to Collins’ contentions. 

Collins correctly asserts that he is entitled to Level V credit for Level V time 
4

served.2 However, Collins argues the Superior Court improperly credited 

his Level V time to a “non Level V sentence.” This allegation is false. At

the time of the October 15, 2018 VOP hearing, Collins was serving a 

sentence for two years of Level V incarceration, suspended for six months 

on Level IV probation, to be followed by one year on Level I probation for 

restitution purposes for his 2014 conviction for identity theft. In its VOP 

sentence, the Superior Court deducted six months of Level V time from the 

two years of backup time Collins faced on this conviction. Collins continues 

to face a suspended Level V sentence for one year and six months for his 

conviction of identity theft. Stated differently, the six months of pretrial 

Level V time Collins served prior to posting bond on his drug dealing charge

has been credited to the balance of Level V time Collins faces. Accordingly, 

we find no error in the Superior Court’s denial of Collins’ motion to review 

his sentence.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the 

Superior Court is AFFIRMED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr.

Justice

 

2

 Gamble v. State, 728 A.2d 1171, 1172 (Del. 1999).