Title: Thomas v. State
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 441, 2016
State: Delaware
Issuer: Delaware Supreme Court
Date: October 21, 2016

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE 
 
JEFFREY W. THOMAS, 
 
Defendant Below- 
Appellant, 
 
v. 
 
STATE OF DELAWARE, 
 
Plaintiff Below- 
Appellee. 
§ 
§  No. 441, 2016 
§ 
§ 
§ 
§  Court Below—Superior Court 
§  of the State of Delaware 
§   
§  Cr. ID 1403008516 
§ 
§ 
 
Submitted:  September 6, 2016 
Decided:  October 21, 2016 
 
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and SEITZ, Justices. 
 
 
O R D E R 
 
This 21st day of October 2016, upon consideration of the notice to 
show cause and the appellant’s response, it appears to the Court that: 
(1) 
The appellant, Jeffrey Thomas, filed this appeal from a decision 
of the Superior Court, denying his motion for appointment of counsel to 
pursue a motion for postconviction relief.  The Chief Deputy Clerk issued a 
notice to Thomas directing him to show cause why the appeal should not be 
dismissed for this Court's lack of jurisdiction to entertain an interlocutory 
appeal in a criminal matter. 
 
 
-2- 
 
(2) 
Thomas filed a response to the notice to show cause on 
September 6, 2016.  The response addresses the merits of his appeal but does 
not address the interlocutory nature of the appeal. 
 
(3) 
Under the Delaware Constitution, only a final judgment may be 
reviewed by the Court in a criminal case.1  The Court has no jurisdiction to 
entertain an appeal from an interlocutory order in a criminal matter.2  
 
(4) 
The Superior Court's August 8, 2016 order is an interlocutory 
order.  The denial of the motion for appointment of counsel is not appealable 
as a collateral order before the entry of a final judgment on any 
postconviction motion that Thomas may file.3  
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is hereby 
DISMISSED. 
BY THE COURT: 
 
 
/s/  James T. Vaughn, Jr. 
             Justice 
                                                             
1 Del. Const. art. IV, § 11(1)(b). 
2 Robinson v. State, 704 A.2d 269, 271 (Del. 1998). 
3 Harris v. State, 2013 WL 4858990 (Del. Sept. 10, 2013).