Court Opinion

ID: 9377341
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-03-07 17:02:53.972459+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:17:13.549329
License: Public Domain

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

STATE OF DELAWARE          )
                           )
    v.                     )
                           ) I.D. No. 2104011875
                           )
MICHAEL SHOEMAKER-MARIONI, )
                           )
            Defendant.     )

                                       ORDER

                             Submitted: December 14, 2022
                                Decided: March 7, 2023

           AND NOW TO WIT, this 7th day of March, 2023, upon consideration

    of Michael Shoemaker (“Defendant”)’s Motion for Modification 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.      This case involves sexual assaults against Defendant’s infant

    daughter that began when she was one week old. 1 On July 19, 2021, a Grand

    Jury indicted Defendant for one count of Rape First Degree, three counts of

    Sexual Abuse of Child by Person in Position of Trust, Authority or Supervision

    First Degree, three counts of Rape Second Degree, one count of Unlawful Sexual

    Contact First Degree, one count of Sexual Abuse of Child by Person in Position

1
    See D.I. 12.
    of Trust, Authority or Supervision Second Degree, one count of Offensive

    Touching, twenty-five counts of Dealing in Child Pornography, nine counts of

    Sexual Exploitation of a Child, one count of Continuous Sexual Abuse of a Child,

    one count of Endangering the Welfare of a Child, Victim of Sexual Offense.2

           2.    On May 24, 2022, Defendant pled guilty to one count of Rape First

    Degree, one count of Unlawful Sexual Contact First Degree, one count of Dealing

    in Child Pornography, and one count of Sexual Exploitation of a Child. 3 On

    August 26, 2022, Defendant was sentenced to, in relevant part, fifty years at Level

    V. 4

           3.    On December 8, 2022, Defendant filed this Motion for Sentence

    Modification/Reduction, asking the Court to reduce imprisonment to the

    minimum mandatory thirty-nine years and suspend the remaining eleven years

    upon successful completion of “R2R/key program.” In support, he asserts that

    he has not been placed into any useful treatment programs; he is remorseful; he

    is allowed to return to his former job; and he has a sick mother who needs his

2
  D.I. 2.
3
  D.I. 10.
4
  Defendant was sentenced to, in relevant part, forty years at Level V as to Rape First Degree, five
years at Level V as to Unlawful Sexual Contact First Degree, two years at Level V as to Dealing
in Child Pornography, and twenty-five years at Level V suspended after three years at Level V as
to Sexual Exploitation of a Child. D.I. 12.
                                                 2
    help.5

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

    sentence of imprisonment on a motion made within ninety days after the sentence

    is imposed.6 Defendant filed this pending Motion 104 days after the sentencing.

    Defendant’s Motion is time-barred. In order to overcome the ninety-day time

    bar, Defendant must show that “extraordinary circumstances” forgive the

    tardiness of his Motion. 7 Extraordinary circumstances are the circumstances that

    “specifically justify the delay; are entirely beyond a petitioner’s control; and have

    prevented the applicant from seeking the remedy on a timely basis.”8 Lack of

    treatment programs, remorse, employment opportunities, and family duty do not

    constitute extraordinary circumstances.

             5.   Moreover, the sentence in Defendant’s case was imposed pursuant

    to a Plea Agreement between the State and Defendant. After an appropriate

    colloquy, the Court addressed Defendant in open court pursuant to Superior Court

    Criminal Rule 11(c)(1) and determined that he understood the nature of the

    charge to which the plea was offered, the mandatory minimum penalty provided

5
  D.I. 14.
6
  Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 35(b).
7
  See Colon v. State, 900 A.2d 635, 638 (Del. 2006).
8
  Washington v. State, No. 18, 2023, 2023 WL 2028713, at *2 (Del. Feb. 15, 2023) (citing
State v. Diaz, 2015 WL 1741768, at *2 (Del. Apr. 15, 2015)).
                                               3
 by law and the maximum statutory penalties. Defendant fully acknowledged in

 open court that the range of possible penalties included the sentence that was

 imposed by the Court in this case. The sentence was appropriate for the reasons

 stated at the time of sentencing.

      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
      Investigative Services

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