Opinion ID: 2383423
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Lesser Included Offenses Superior Court Jurisdiction

Text: Slater's second contention is that, even if he was properly indicted for the felony offenses, the Superior Court was divested of its jurisdiction once the jury acquitted him of the felony charges, and, instead, convicted him of the lesser included misdemeanors. Thus, according to Slater, the Superior Court erred by denying his motion to dismiss, following the announcement of the jury's verdicts. In support of his argument, Slater relies upon this Court's decision in Cane v. State, Del.Supr., 560 A.2d 1063 (1989), and Section 922 of Title 10. In Cane, the issue presented was whether the defendant, who was charged with first degree murder, had been properly convicted of the lesser included offense of manslaughter, since the five year statute of limitations on manslaughter had expired. Cane v. State, 560 A.2d at 1065. In Cane, over the defendant's objection, the Superior Court granted the State's request to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of manslaughter. This Court concluded that the expiration of the statute of limitations for that particular crime was an absolute bar to the State's prosecution for manslaughter. Id. at 1066. Therefore, this Court held that the Superior Court had no jurisdiction to instruct the jury, over the defendant's objection, on the time barred lesser included offense of manslaughter. But see Spaziano v. Florida, 468 U.S. 447, 104 S.Ct. 3154, 82 L.Ed.2d 340 (1984). The circumstances in Cane are not analogous to the present case. In Cane, the State's prosecution for manslaughter was barred under all circumstances due to the expiration of the statute of limitations. However, in the present case, even Slater acknowledges that the State could have lawfully convicted him of the misdemeanor offenses for which he was ultimately convicted in the Superior Court, if the State had tried him in the Family Court. Because the commencement of Slater's prosecution was timely, his reliance upon Cane is misplaced. The alternative authority which Slater cites in support of his jurisdictional argument is 10 Del.C. § 922(a)(1). That section vests the Family Court with exclusive original criminal jurisdiction for any misdemeanor committed against a child. Id. Slater contends that, as a result of Section 922(a)(1), the Superior Court had no jurisdiction over the misdemeanor offenses for which he was convicted because the victim was a minor. The Superior Court has personal and subject matter jurisdiction over adults who are indicted for a crime that is a felony, irrespective of whether the victim is a child. See Del.Const. art. IV, § 7; 11 Del.C. § 2701. The record reflects that, despite the State's objection, Slater requested the Superior Court to give an instruction to the jury on the lesser included misdemeanor offenses for which Slater was ultimately convicted. Although the lesser included offense doctrine developed at common law to assist the prosecution in cases where the evidence failed to establish some element of the offense originally charged, it is now beyond dispute that the defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser included offense if the evidence would permit a jury rationally to find him guilty of the lesser offense and acquit him of the greater. Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 208, 93 S.Ct. 1993, 1995, 36 L.Ed.2d 844 (1973). See also Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 633, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 2387, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980) (citing 2 M. Hale, Pleas of the Crown 301-302 (1736); 2 W. Hawkins, Pleas of the Crown 623 (6th ed. 1787); 1 J. Chitty, Criminal Law 250 (5th Am. ed. 1847); T. Starkie, Treatise on Criminal Pleading 351-352 (2d ed. 1822)). This Court has recognized that the Delaware law on the subject of lesser included offenses is quite specific. Gates v. State, Del.Supr., 424 A.2d 18, 21 (1980). A defendant is entitled to an instruction on a lesser included offense if the evidence would permit a jury rationally to acquit him of the greater offense and to convict him of the lesser. Id. (citing 11 Del.C. § 206(c); and Super.Ct.Crim.R. 31(c)). Moreover, in Gates, this Court observed that the Due Process Clause may guarantee a defendant a right to have the jury instructed on a lesser included offense if the evidence so warrants. Id. (citing Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. at 212-13, 93 S.Ct. at 1998; Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. at 637-38, 100 S.Ct. at 2389). [5] In Keeble and Beck, the United States Supreme Court intimated that any other conclusion would deny a defendant the full benefit of the reasonable doubt standard, in an otherwise appropriate evidentiary context, by not providing the jury with a proper alternative to conviction as charged or acquittal. Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. at 633-34, 100 S.Ct. at 2388. Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. at 212-13, 93 S.Ct. at 1998. [6] A corollary question is presented by Slater in the case sub judice: If a defendant has the right to have the jury instructed on any lesser included offense for which a rational basis exists in the evidence, does the court which has jurisdiction over the greater offense have derivative jurisdiction over the lesser included offense? The United States Supreme Court has answered that question in the affirmative and concluded that if a defendant is entitled to a lesser included offense instruction, the trial court has jurisdictional authority to convict him of the lesser included offense. Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. at 214, 93 S.Ct. at 1998. See also United States v. John, 587 F.2d 683 (5th Cir.1979); Felicia v. United States, 495 F.2d 353 (8th Cir.), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 849, 95 S.Ct. 88, 42 L.Ed.2d 79 (1974). The ratio decidendi in Keeble, is particularly didactic to this Court's review of Slater's jurisdictional claim, since an analogous situation was presented to the Supreme Court of the United States. In Keeble, the defendant, a native American, was indicted for assault with intent to commit serious bodily injury on an Indian reservation, a federal crime under the Major Crimes Act of 1885. The District Court refused to instruct the jury on the lesser included offense of simple assault because jurisdiction for that crime was not conferred upon the federal courts by the Major Crimes Act, and instead was left exclusively as a matter for the tribe. Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. at 206, 93 S.Ct. at 1995. The Supreme Court opined that a defendant has a right to an instruction on a lesser included offense if the evidence would permit a jury rationally to find him guilty of the lesser offense and acquit him of the greater. Id. at 208, 93 S.Ct. at 1995. In Keeble, the Supreme Court rejected the Government's argument that an individual defendant's right to a jury instruction on a lesser offense must fall before the congressionally sanctioned interests of the tribe in preserving its jurisdiction. Id. at 209, 93 S.Ct. at 1996. The Supreme Court stated that the Government's argument was compelled by neither the language, nor the purposes, nor the history of the Major Crimes Act. Id. Thus, the Supreme Court implicitly held that, once the District Court lawfully obtained jurisdiction over the defendant for the indicted offense, the District Court retained jurisdiction to convict the defendant of a lesser included offense, even though exclusive original jurisdiction over the lesser included offense was vested in a different tribunal. Id. at 214, 93 S.Ct. at 1999. See also United States v. John, 587 F.2d at 688. Similarly, this Court holds that, notwithstanding the Family Court's exclusive original jurisdiction over misdemeanors involving a child victim, the Superior Court has derivative jurisdiction over those same misdemeanor offenses, when they are properly before it as a lesser included offense. In this case, the Superior Court determined that Slater's request for an instruction on the lesser included misdemeanor offenses was warranted by the evidence. Therefore, Slater was entitled to have those instructions given to the jury. 11 Del.C. § 206(c); Super.Ct.Crim.R. 31(c). See also Beck v. Alabama, 447 U.S. 625, 100 S.Ct. 2382, 65 L.Ed.2d 392 (1980); Keeble v. United States, 412 U.S. 205, 93 S.Ct. 1993, 36 L.Ed.2d 844 (1973); Gates v. State, Del. Supr., 424 A.2d 18 (1980). Consequently, the Superior Court had authority to exercise derivative jurisdiction over those misdemeanors for which Slater was convicted.