Opinion ID: 1483627
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: Probation Hearing Procedures

Text: Title 11, section 4334(c) of the Delaware Code sets forth, in part, the procedure to be used in VOP proceedings: Upon such arrest and detention, the Department shall immediately notify the court and shall submit in writing a report showing in what manner the probationer has violated the conditions of probation or suspension of sentence. Thereupon, or upon arrest by warrant as provided in subsection (b) of this section, the court shall cause the probationer to be brought before it without unnecessary delay, for a hearing on the violation charge. The hearing may be informal or summary. If the violation is established, the court may continue or revoke the probation or suspension of sentence. . . . In Brown v. State, [7] this Court interpreted the statute as requiring a hearing before a revocation of probation. [8] Regarding the type of hearing required, this Court explained that except for the provisions that such hearing may be `informal or summary,' and that the violation must be `established,' there is no statutory prescription as to its nature and scope. [9] This Court continued: A probationer accused of violation is not entitled to a trial in any strict or formal sense; his entitlement in this regard is limited to an inquiry so fitted in its range to the needs of the occasion as to justify the conclusion that discretion has not been abused by the failure of the inquisitor to carry the probe deeper. [10] To sustain a violation of probation, all that is necessary is some competent evidence to prove that the violation occurred. [11] This Court has also held, however, that due process and fundamental fairness require that the State provide the probationer with counsel [w]hen a violation of probation hearing follows an acquittal after a criminal trial for the same alleged conduct. [12]