IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

IN THE MATTER OF THE 

PETITION OF DEVIN COLEMAN

FOR A WRIT OF MANDAMUS

§ 

§ No. 111, 2015

§

Submitted: March 11, 2015

Decided: April 6, 2015

Before STRINE, Chief Justice; HOLLAND, and VALIHURA, Justices.

O R D E R

This 6th day of April 2015, upon consideration of the petition of Devin 

Coleman for an extraordinary writ of mandamus, it appears to the Court that:

(1) The petitioner, Devin Coleman, seeks to invoke the original 

jurisdiction of this Court, under Supreme Court Rule 43, to issue a writ of 

mandamus compelling the Superior Court to review a motion for postconviction 

relief that he filed in September 2014. The State of Delaware has filed an answer 

and motion to dismiss Coleman’s petition. After careful review, we find that 

Coleman’s petition manifestly fails to invoke this Court’s original jurisdiction. 

Accordingly, the petition must be dismissed.

(2) On June 17, 2014, Coleman pled guilty to five charges arising from 

two different indictments. Coleman was sentenced to fifteen years of Level V 
2

incarceration, suspended after eight years for one year of Level III probation. This 

Court dismissed Coleman’s untimely appeal of the Superior Court’s judgment.1

(3) On September 8, 2014, Coleman filed his first motion for 

postconviction relief under Superior Court Criminal Rule 61. The Superior Court 

has not ruled on that motion. The Superior Court docket reflects that since 

September 2014 the Superior Court has decided two motions for correction of 

sentence and a petition for a writ of habeas corpus filed by Coleman. The Superior 

Court docket also reflects that Coleman filed a motion to amend his motion for 

postconviction relief and a motion for summary judgment on his motion for 

postconviction relief on March 2, 2015. Coleman filed another amended motion 

for postconviction relief to replace his September 2014 motion for postconviction 

relief on April 2, 2015. 

(4) On March 6, 2015, Coleman filed a petition for a writ of mandamus in 

this Court. In the petition, Coleman asks this Court to order the Superior Court to

review his September 2014 motion for postconviction relief within sixty days. A 

writ of mandamus will only issue if the petitioner can show: (i) a clear right to the 

performance of a duty; (ii) that no other adequate remedy is available; and (iii) the 

Superior Court has arbitrarily failed or refused to perform its duty.2 “[I]n the 

 

1

Coleman v. State, 2014 WL 4629376 (Del. Sept. 16, 2014).

2

In re Bordley, 545 A.2d 619, 620 (Del. 1988).
3

absence of a clear showing of an arbitrary refusal or failure to act, this Court will 

not issue a writ of mandamus to compel a trial court to perform a particular judicial 

function, to decide a matter in a particular way, or to dictate the control of its 

docket.”

3

 

(5) The passage of six months, especially in light of the amended motions 

for postconviction relief that Coleman filed in March and April, does not constitute 

an arbitrary failure or refusal to act by the Superior Court.4 Because Coleman has 

failed to show that he is entitled the issuance of a writ of mandamus, his petition 

must be dismissed. 

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the petition for the issuance of 

a writ of mandamus is DISMISSED. 

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Leo E. Strine, Jr.

Chief Justice

 

3

Id.

4

See, e.g., In re Johnson, 2007 WL 3121509, at *1 (Del. Oct. 25, 2007) (dismissing petition for 

writ of mandamus based on motion for modification of sentence that had been pending in 

Superior Court for five months).