Opinion ID: 690280
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Government of the Virgin Islands v. Warner

Text: 3 Elveth Warner was arrested and charged with possession of a controlled substance in violation of V.I.Code Ann. tit. 19, Sec. 607(a). He pled guilty to this charge on September 8, 1989. At sentencing, which did not take place until May 5, 1993, Warner contended that he was prejudiced by a lengthy delay between his plea of guilty and sentencing. According to the Government, the reason for the delay was that when this matter was first scheduled for sentencing, Warner did not appear and failed to inform either the court or his attorney as to his whereabouts. 4 The Territorial Court of the Virgin Islands sentenced Warner to a suspended 6 month period of incarceration, 400 hours of community service, a $700 fine, $25 in court costs, and placed him on supervised probation for one year. 1 On appeal to the Appellate Division of the District Court of the Virgin Islands, Warner renewed his argument that he was prejudiced by the lengthy delay between his plea and sentencing. The appellate division dismissed the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. This appeal followed. 5