Opinion ID: 2357781
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Upon Cross Motions for Reargument

Text: The State argues that this Court's foreseeability rationale for not permitting [defendants'] good time credits to accrue after Richmond  is equally applicable under Bouie to justify the elimination of defendants' pre- Richmond accrued credits. The State contends that the Court has misapplied Bouie in determining whether a due process violation has occurred based on an  ex post facto -like judicial ruling. According to the State, the Bouie retroactivity test, as applied to this case, is simply whether the judicial ruling of Richmond was unforeseeable. Conversely, if defendants had fair warning of Richmond's holding that minimum mandatory terms of imprisonment are not subject to reduction for good time credits earned under 11 Del.C. §§ 4382 and 4348, Kennish notwithstanding, then the Department of Corrections' retroactive elimination of defendants' credits was proper under Bouie. There are several answers to this argument. One, as we read Bouie, foreseeability is that which is foreseeable to the man of common intelligence. Accordingly, as this Court had not spoken directly on the issue raised in Richmond and the Superior Court had in Kennish, Kennish was the law which was clearly in effect at the time the defendants committed their offenses. Thus, the common man in Delaware logically would look to the law in effect, i.e., Kennish, for notice of criminal liability and punishment. Therefore, what this Court has stated above concerning foreseeability is consistent with foreseeability statements in Bouie because this Court only addressed foreseeability after Richmond. Two, foreseeability is but the second part of a two-part test in Bouie for determining a due process violation based on an ex post facto -like judicial ruling. The State has failed to apply the second part of the test in Bouie, which is the effect of the judicial action, i.e., does it aggravate a crime or make it greater than it was when committed. Here, it seems clear that to apply Richmond retrospectively to these defendants has the effect of a retrospective increase in punishment. State v. Dickerson, Del.Supr., 298 A.2d 761 (1973). Hence, foreseeability is not the end of the inquiry where the effect of a retrospective application of a judicial ruling is an increase in punishment. Three, regardless of whether defendants had fair warning that Kennish was not good law and would be eventually overruled, the fact is that defendants' sentences had been reduced before Richmond overruled Kennish. Thus, fundamental fairness, as well as due process, requires such reduced sentences not be cancelled after having been granted. Four, while Bouie holds that due process prohibits application of a judicial action retroactively if the judicial action is unforeseeable, the corollary is not necessarily true; i.e., that if the judicial action is foreseeable, it must be applied retroactively even where the result of the application is a retroactive increase in punishment. Rose v. Locke, 423 U.S. 48, 96 S.Ct. 243, 46 L.Ed.2d 185 (1975) and United States v. Seregos, 2nd Cir., 655 F.2d 33 (1981) are inapposite. Rose is distinguishable for, contrary to defendant Rose's argument that a Tennessee statute proscribing crimes against nature could be given a narrow interpretation, the Tennessee Supreme Court had, on two prior occasions, ruled that the statute in question would be given broad effect. Seregos is distinguishable for, although defendant Seregos was relying on United States v. Brecht, 2d Cir., 540 F.2d 45 (1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1123, 97 S.Ct. 1160, 51 L.Ed.2d 573 (1977) (holding that the Travel Act did not apply to acts of commercial bribery), the Brecht court expressly noted that its ruling was contrary to decisions in other circuits. Moreover, New York State courts had interpreted the term bribery to include commercial bribery. Therefore, unlike the Johnson defendants, Seregos was given fair warning that his conduct could give rise to criminal liability. Defendants also seek reargument, contending that to apply Richmond even prospectively to them is a denial of due process. Because their crimes occurred before Richmond, defendants argue that irrespective of Richmond's foreseeability, any deprivation of good time is an increase in punishment and an erosion of the protection afforded them by Bouie and Dickerson. Defendants thereby ignore the basis for our restoration of their accrued pre- Richmond good time credits: that to give Richmond retrospective application constitutes an ex post facto -like violation of defendants' rights to due process. Since that was the sole basis for a finding of denial of due process, it does not follow that Richmond cannot be applied prospectively so as to cut off any further accrual of good time credits by defendants. While fundamental fairness also requires that pre- Richmond accrued and credited good time not be retroactively withdrawn, we find no unfairness in declining to permit an overruled decision, Kennish, to be given prospective application. And Kennish was the sole basis for defendants' right to accrue good time credits against their minimum mandatory sentences prior to Richmond. The State's motion for reargument is DENIED; and defendants' motion for reargument is DENIED.