Title: White v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 442, 2002
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: December 20, 2002

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
THOMAS L. WHITE,
§
No. 442, 2002
§
    
Defendant Below,
§
Appellant,
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Court Below:  Superior Court of 
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the State of Delaware in and for
              v.
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Sussex County
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STATE OF DELAWARE,
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Cr.A. Nos: S01-12-0146I
§
S01-12-0147I
Plaintiff Below,
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S01-12-0148I
Appellee.
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S01-12-0149I
§
S01-12-0158I
Submitted: December 10, 2002
Decided: 
December 20, 2002
 Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, WALSH and HOLLAND, Justices.
ORDER
This 20th day of December 2002, upon consideration of the briefs of the parties
it appears to the Court that:
(1) Thomas White was convicted of four class-A misdemeanors and one traffic
violation after a jury trial.  The sentencing judge imposed upon White the maximum
sentence of one year for each of the misdemeanors and a fine for the traffic violation.
White appeals the sentences of imprisonment—not the fine nor the verdicts
themselves.
(2) At trial Officer Lance Skinner testified that on the evening of December
3, 2001, he observed Thomas White drive his car at a high rate of speed and swerve
111 Del.C. § 611.
211 Del. C. §§ 601(a), (c).
2
into his lane of traffic, forcing him to drive off the road.  Skinner and two Shelbyville
Police Officers, Officers Martinez and Wilson, all of whom were in marked police
cars, followed White. After White pulled into the driveway of his mother’s home,
Martinez told White that he was being stopped for aggressive driving.  White walked
away from the officers and refused the officers’ requests to return to them.  Martinez
then grabbed White who began to resist arrest.  Subsequently White punched Skinner
and knocked Wilson to the ground.  The three officers were finally able to subdue
White after wrestling him to the ground and spraying him several times with pepper
spray.
(3) White’s version of events at trial differed.  He contended that the police
officers were driving on the wrong side of the road, forcing him to swerve off the
road.  The officers followed him home, refused to tell him why he was being stopped,
and grabbed him when he asked them to leave his property.  White argued that he was
defending himself, denied punching Skinner, and indicated that he was punched
several times in the face, then maced by Officer Skinner.
(4) After the two-day trial, the jury found White guilty of four class-A
misdemeanors:   Assault in the Third Degree,1 two counts of Offensive Touching2 and
311 Del. C. § 1257.
4Mayes v. State, 604 A.2d 839, 842 (Del. 1992).
5Id. (quoting Ward v. State, 567 A.2d 1296, 1297 (Del. 1989)).
6Samuel v. State, 1997 WL 317362, at *1 (Del. 1997).
3
Resisting Arrest.3  He was also convicted of a traffic violation, Driving Left of Center.
The jury acquitted White of the more serious charges, including criminal mischief,
and reckless driving. 
(5) At sentencing, the trial court reviewed the pre-sentence report and heard
testimony from White, his counsel and his mother regarding mitigating factors.  The
trial court identified aggravating factors, including lack of remorse, repetitive criminal
history, similar offenses in the past, and lack of amenability to a lesser sanction.  After
reviewing the factors the court imposed the maximum sentence of one year at Level
V for each of the class-A misdemeanors.  The trial court also fined White $25 for the
traffic violation.  White appeals the class-A misdemeanor sentences that impose
imprisonment.
(6) This Court reviews sentencing orders for abuse of discretion.4  “‘Appellate
review of a sentence generally ends upon determination that the sentence is within the
statutory limits presented by the legislature.’”5   When the sentence is within the
statutory limits, this Court will not find an abuse of discretion unless it is clear that the
sentencing judge relied on impermissible factors or exhibited a closed mind.6  A judge
7Ellerbe v. State, 2000 WL 949625, at *1 (Del. 1997).
8Shelton v. State, 744 A.2d 465, 513 (Del. 2000).
911 Del. C. § 4206(a).
4
sentences with a closed mind when the sentence is based on a preconceived bias
without consideration of the nature of the offense or the character of the defendant.7
The judge must have an open mind for receiving all information related to the
question of mitigation.8
(7) Class-A misdemeanors carry a maximum sentence of one year
incarceration at Level V.9  The one year sentences imposed in White’s case, then, are
within the statutory guidelines.
(8) In determining the appropriate sentence the trial court considered
mitigating factors.  The judge reviewed the pre-sentence report and heard testimony
from White, his counsel, and White’s mother prior to imposing the sentence.  The trial
court also identified aggravating factors which justified imposing the maximum
sentence.  These factors included White’s lack of remorse, his related misdemeanors
in the past, a repeated disregard for court orders in the past, and a lack of amenability
to lesser sentences.  Nothing in the record indicates that the trial court relied on
improper information.
(9) Accordingly, we find the trial court did not abuse its discretion by
imposing the maximum one year sentence for each of his Class-A misdemeanors.  The
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sentences were within the statutory limits and within the discretion of the sentencing
judge.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior
Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ E. Norman Veasey
Chief Justice