Court Opinion

ID: 9407901
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-07-10 18:04:58.99053+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:20:40.641285
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

STATE OF DELAWARE                              )
                                               )
          v.                                   )
                                               ) I.D. No. 2112009828
IRA GREEN,                                     )
                                               )
                         Defendant.            )

                                           ORDER

                                   Submitted: May 30, 2023
                                    Decided: July 10, 2023

            AND NOW TO WIT, this 10th day of July 2023, upon consideration of Ira

    Green (“Defendant”)’s Motion for Modification/Reduction of Sentence under

    Superior Court Criminal Rule 35, the sentence imposed upon the Defendant, and

    the record in this case, it appears to the Court that:

          1.       Defendant is a forty-eight-year-old man with a thirty-year-old criminal

record, mainly involving thefts and burglaries for which he previously served a four-

year minimum mandatory sentence for his involvement in a series of burglaries in

2012.1

          2.       In 2022, Defendant was charged with seven counts including one count of

Burglary Second Degree, three counts of Theft of a Firearm, and Possession of a

Firearm by a Person Prohibited, Theft (of jewelry, bags, and purses), and criminal

1
    See D.I. 25.
mischief. 2

        3.      Defendant and the State entered into a plea agreement where the State

agreed not to have Defendant declared a habitual offender, and Defendant and the State

agreed to a joint recommendation of two years of incarceration. On March 20, 2023,

Defendant pled guilty to Burglary Second Degree,3 the Court followed the joint

recommendation, and sentenced Defendant to 8 years at Level V, suspended after 2

years for 1 year at Level III probation.4

        4.      On April 12, 2023, Defendant filed a letter thanking the Court for the

sentence imposed upon him.5 The Court responded to Defendant wishing him success

in his treatment programs. 6

        5.      On May 15, 2023, Defendant filed this Motion for a Modification of

Sentence under Rule 35 asking the Court to reduce his Level V sentence to outpatient

mental health treatment. 7         Two days later, Defendant filed a supplemental letter

explaining that he needs mental health treatment.8

        6.      Under Superior Court Criminal Rule 35(b), the Court may reduce a

sentence of imprisonment on a motion made within 90 days after the sentence is

imposed. 9 Thus, relief under Rule 35(b) is within the sound discretion of the Sentencing

2
  D.I. 2.
3
  D.I. 25.
4
  D.I. 26. Defendant was also sentenced to restitution, paying $2,000.00 to the victim. Id.
5
  D.I. 27.
6
  D.I. 28.
7
  D.I. 29.
8
  D.I. 30.
9
  Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 35(b).
                                                    2
Court. 10 So, a timely and non-repetitive Rule 35(b) motion is “essentially a ‘plea for

leniency.’”11

        7.      This Motion is timely filed. Yet, Defendant fails to state sufficient

grounds to reduce his Level V sentence. After an appropriate colloquy with Defendant,

the Court determined that he understood the nature of the charges to which he was

pleading guilty, and the consequences of his plea, 12 including the Court’s imposition of

the sentence as recommended by both the State and Defendant.

        8.      Defendant’s sentence is appropriate for all the reasons set forth at

sentencing. If DOC determines it cannot address Defendant’s alleged mental health

needs appropriately, it is for the agency to consider other options under 11 Del. C. §

4217.13

        IT IS SO ORDERED that Defendant’s Motion for Sentence Modification is

DENIED.

                                                         /s/ Vivian L. Medinilla
                                                         Vivian L. Medinilla
                                                         Judge
oc:     Prothonotary
cc:     Defendant
        Department of Justice
        Investigative Services

10
   Id.
11
   Id. at 1202 (quoting United States v. Maynard, 485 F.2d 247, 248 (9th Cir. 1973)).
12
   D.I. 25.
13
   11 Del. C. § 4217 (providing that “[t]he Court may modify the sentence solely on the basis of an
application filed by the Department of Correction for good cause. . . . Good cause under this section shall
include . . . serious medical illness or infirmity of the offender. . . .”).
                                                    3