Title: Giove v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 267, 2013
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: August 23, 2013

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
GUY D. GIOVE,  
 
Defendant Below, 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE,  
 
Plaintiff Below, 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 267, 2013 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below─Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware, 
§  in and for Sussex County 
§  Cr. ID Nos. 92S03793DI  
§                     92S03307DI 
§                     92S03159DI 
§ 
 
Submitted: July 11, 2013 
 
 
 
 
Decided: August 23, 2013 
 
Before BERGER, JACOBS and RIDGELY, Justices. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
O R D E R 
 
 
This 23rd day of August 2013, upon consideration of the appellant’s 
opening brief and the appellee’s motion to affirm pursuant to Supreme Court 
Rule 25(a), it appears to the Court that: 
 
(1) The defendant-appellant, Guy D. Giove, appeals from the 
Superior Court’s May 16, 2013 order denying his third petition for relief 
from sex offender registration.  The plaintiff-appellee, the State of Delaware, 
moves to affirm the Superior Court’s judgment on the ground that it is 
 
2
manifest on the face of the opening brief that the appeal is without merit.1  
We agree and affirm. 
 
(2) The record reflects that, in January 1993, Giove was found guilty 
of two counts of Unlawful Sexual Intercourse in the Third Degree and one 
count of Sexual Harassment, plus a separate count of Maintaining a 
Dwelling for Keeping Controlled Substances.  He was designated as a Tier II 
sex offender.  After receiving credit for Level V time previously served, 
Giove had the remainder of his Level V sentence suspended for 2 years of 
Level IV Home Confinement, to be followed by 2 years of Level II 
probation.2   
 
(3) In 2011, Giove, represented by counsel, filed a motion in the 
Superior Court seeking to exempt himself from all statutory sex offender 
registration requirements pursuant to Del. Code Ann. tit. 11, §4121.  On 
October 31, 2011, the Superior Court denied Giove’s motion.  On September 
25, 2012, Giove, again represented by counsel, filed a second motion 
requesting that he be exempted from all statutory sex offender registration 
requirements.  On November 30, 2012, the Superior Court again denied 
Giove’s motion.  This is Giove’s appeal from the Superior Court’s denial of 
                                                 
1 SUPR. CT. R. 25(a). 
2 It appears that the Board of Parole erroneously re-designated Giove as a Tier I sex 
offender in 2010.  His current designation remains at Tier I. 
 
3
his latest, pro se motion for exemption from the statutory sex offender 
registration requirements. 
 
(4) The Superior Court has the authority to grant a petition such as 
Giove’s pursuant to Del. Code Ann. tit. 4121(e)(2)(d).  However, the 
Superior Court may not grant the petition unless the offender establishes, by 
a preponderance of the evidence, that public safety no longer requires the 
preservation of his tier designation.3   
 
(5) In its latest order denying Giove’s request to be exempted from 
the statutory sex offender registration requirements, the Superior Court 
relied on the same rationale it adopted in its two previous denials---i.e., that 
Giove had failed to demonstrate by a preponderance of the evidence that 
public safety no longer requires the preservation of his tier designation.  
Having reviewed the record in this matter carefully, we cannot conclude that 
the Superior Court either erred or abused its discretion when it denied 
Giove’s latest request. 
 
(6) It is manifest on the face of the opening brief that this appeal is 
without merit because the issues presented on appeal are controlled by 
                                                 
3 The Superior Court also is required to provide the Attorney General with notice of the 
motion and the opportunity to be heard.   
 
 
4
settled Delaware law and, to the extent that judicial discretion is implicated, 
there was no abuse of discretion. 
 
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/ Jack B. Jacobs 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
       Justice