Court Opinion

ID: 9961607
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2024-04-19 14:03:49.244542+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T08:21:02.686900
License: Public Domain

EFiled: Apr 18 2024 02:42PM EDT
                                                         Filing ID 72779182
                                                         Case Number 235,2023
            IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE

    JARED RYAN,                            §
                                           §     No. 235, 2023
           Defendant Below,                §
           Appellant,                      §     Court Below—Superior Court
                                           §     of the State of Delaware
           v.                              §
                                           §     Cr. ID No. 2106009261,
    STATE OF DELAWARE,                     §             2106009228 (N)
                                           §
           Appellee.                       §

                              Submitted: March 19, 2024
                              Decided:   April 18, 2024

Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; LEGROW and GRIFFITHS, Justices.

                                        ORDER

         On this 18th day of April 2024, after consideration of the briefs and the record

below, the Court finds as follows:

         (1)     In June 2023, the Superior Court sentenced appellant Jared Ryan to

thirty years of imprisonment, suspended after four years after pleading guilty to two

counts of fourth-degree rape. “[M]inutes before” his sentencing hearing started, the

prosecution provided the court and defense counsel with three victim impact

statements for presentation during the hearing.1 His counsel did not move to

continue the sentencing hearing. Ryan argues that the Superior Court should have

sua sponte continued the hearing to ensure defense counsel would be able to

1
    Opening Br. at 3.
adequately evaluate the statements and advise Ryan accordingly. The Superior

Court’s failure to do so, Ryan claims, violated his Sixth Amendment right to

effective assistance of counsel. He did not raise an ineffective assistance of counsel

claim with the trial court. For the reasons detailed below, we find that Ryan’s

ineffective assistance claim cannot be considered on direct appeal, and we therefore

affirm Ryan’s sentence.

         (2)    In 2021, Ryan was accused of raping two minors—M.S. and M.D. The

police arrested Ryan and charged him with five counts of fourth-degree rape

stemming from the incidents. Following his indictment, Ryan entered into a plea

agreement resolving the charges.       On July 11, 2022, in accordance with the

agreement, Ryan pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree rape.

         (3)    The Superior Court held Ryan’s sentencing hearing on June 9, 2023.

Just before the hearing started, the State presented the court and Ryan’s counsel with

three victim impact statements written by M.D., M.D.’s mother, and M.S.’s mother.

At a sidebar conference, Ryan’s counsel requested that the Court disregard “the

untrue portions of the victim impact statements[,]” and argued that they contained

“new” and “unproven” allegations.2 Counsel did not ask for a continuance to review

the victim impact statements.      The Superior Court told counsel that it would

2
    App. to Opening Br. at A106.
                                          2
disregard anything “that [wa]s not supported by evidence[]” and proceeded with the

sentencing hearing.3

       (4)       The prosecution then presented the victim impact statements. The

prosecutor read M.D.’s statement and M.S.’s mother’s statement to the court, while

M.D.’s mother read her own statement. During her reading, M.D.’s mother asked

the Superior Court not to “show leniency toward . . . Ryan” because he was a

“predator” who had “basically kidnapped” her daughter “while lying multiple times

about her [daughter’s] whereabouts and manipulating [her] family, the police, and

[her] about his involvement with her daughter.”4 She also claimed in her statement

that Ryan had groomed M.D. as well as “many other underaged victims[,]” and

expressed her belief that if given the chance, he “would do it all over again[.]”5

       (5)       In M.D.’s victim impact statement, she referred to Ryan as a “pedophile

who manipulates and destroys little girls’ lives” and asked the court to not “let this

happen to another girl.”6 She stated that “[t]here’s a story that [she] hear[d] from

other females about how [Ryan] would go to part[ies][,] pick up young girls, let them

drive his car, then get oral sex[.]”7 She also detailed how Ryan had “broke[n] two

3
  Id. at A106.
4
  Id. at A125.
5
  Id.
6
  Id. at A126.
7
  Id.
                                             3
of [her] old phones and put his hands on [her] physically[,] from punching [her] to

pushing [her] into walls.”8

       (6)    Through her victim impact statement, M.S.’s mother asked the court to

impose the “maximum sentence” because Ryan “had chosen to be on the wrong side

of the law for many years and clearly has no desire to rehabilitate.”9 She wrote that

“it was [her] understanding that [Ryan] was on probation when he abused [her]

daughter” and that “even after he was arrested and charged again he has since

committed rape on a young girl . . . while out on bail.”10

       (7)    During the defense’s presentation, Ryan’s counsel summarized a

lengthy sentencing memorandum that he submitted to the Superior Court. Counsel

rebutted some of the factual allegations made in the newly introduced victim impact

letters—including the allegations that Ryan was “on the wrong side of the law for

many years” and that there “were many underage victims”—while noting that she

did not intend to “undercut or undermine what the victims went through.”11 Ryan

then spoke to the court. During his allocution, Ryan expressed remorse for his

actions and regret for the effects his actions had on M.D. and M.S. He also told the

court that he would “do whatever it takes to make sure this behavior does not repeat

8
  Id.
9
  Id. at A127.
10
   Id.
11
   Id. at A117, A125, A127.
                                          4
in the future.”12 He did not expressly address all of the accounts and allegations in

the victim impact statements.

       (8)     After both parties’ presentations were complete, the court sentenced

Ryan to thirty years of Level V supervision, suspended after four years for

decreasing levels of supervision. Following sentencing, Ryan, still represented by

sentencing counsel, timely appealed to this Court.13

       (9)     Ryan argues that the Superior Court itself violated his right to effective

assistance of counsel when it did not sua sponte continue his sentencing hearing to

“allow defense counsel the opportunity to evaluate three belatedly provided victim

impact statements” after his counsel failed to seek a continuance.14 He argues that,

if the trial court had done so, he would have received a different sentence because

he could have modified his allocution to better respond to the victims’ statements.

       (9)     We review ineffective assistance of counsel claims de novo.15 When

an issue is not raised below, like here, we review for plain error only.16 Under plain

12
   Id. at A120–21.
13
   Id. at A10. We note that generally, “[a] criminal defense lawyer should not argue his or own
ineffectiveness as a ground for reversal of a conviction except where it is caused by some outside
influence, such as government misconduct[.]” John Wesley Hall, Jr., Professional Responsibility
in Criminal Defense Practice § 10:6 (4th ed. 2024) (collecting sources); see also Wayne R. LaFave
et al., 3 Criminal Procedure § 11.7(e) (4th ed. 2023) (collecting sources). Counsel’s recognition
of this ethical issue may account for the roundabout presentation of Ryan’s ineffectiveness claim
as an error by the sentencing court, rather than counsel’s error in the first instance.
14
   Opening Br. at 13.
15
   Cooke v. State, 977 A.2d 803, 840 (Del. 2009).
16
   Williams v. State, 796 A.2d 1281, 1284 (Del. 2002) (citing Supr. Ct. R. 8).
                                                5
error review, a defendant must show a material error on the face of the record that is

basic, serious, fundamental in character, and so clearly prejudicial to substantial

rights as to jeopardize the fairness and integrity of the trial process.17

       (10) This Court generally will not consider a claim of ineffective assistance

of counsel if it was not first decided on the merits below.18 Instead, we require

parties to bring these claims by post-conviction motion.19 The rationale for this rule

is driven by our need to have a complete record “on the question of counsel’s alleged

incompetency” and by the desire to give counsel “an opportunity to be heard [and]

the chance to defend [themselves].”20 Furthermore, even where the record is

sufficient, a collateral proceeding is preferable to plain error review because “[a]n

opinion by the [sentencing court] is a valuable aid to appellate review for many

reasons, not the least of which is that in most cases the [sentencing court] is familiar

with the proceedings and has observed counsel’s performance in context,

firsthand.”21 This does not mean, however, that ineffective assistance of counsel

claims are completely prohibited on direct appeal. In the unusual case, where “the

17
   Wainwright v. State, 504 A.2d 1096, 1100 (Del. 1986) (citing Dutton v. State, 452 A.2d 127,
146 (Del. 1982); Bromwell v. State, 427 A.2d 884, 893 n.12 (Del. 1981)).
18
   Johnson v. State, 962 A.2d 233, 234 (Del. 2008) (citing Desmond v. State, 652 A.2d 821, 829
(Del. 1994); Wright v. State, 531 A.2d 1310, 1315 (Del. 1986); Duross v. State, 494 A.2d 1265,
1269 (Del. 1985); Collins v. State, 420 A.2d 170, 177 (Del. 1980); Harris v. State, 293 A.2d 291,
293 (Del. 1972)).
19
   Duross, 494 A.2d at 1268.
20
   Johnson, 962 A.2d at 234 (citing Duross, 494 A.2d at 1267; Harris, 293 A.2d at 293).
21
   United States v. Requejo, 364 Fed. Appx. 517, 527 (10th Cir. 2010) (quoting United States v.
Brooks, 438 F.3d 1231, 1242 (10th Cir. 2006)).
                                               6
ineffectiveness is so apparent from the record that this Court can fully consider

obvious deficiencies in representation,” we may, in the interests of justice, reach the

merits.22

       (11) There are no such obvious deficiencies here.                  To prevail on an

ineffective assistance of counsel claim, the defendant “must show both deficient

performance by counsel and prejudice.”23 The “bare record from the [sentencing]

proceedings” before us, however, does not provide a basis for us to conclude that

requesting a continuance was required and therefore constitutionally deficient, and

that Ryan suffered prejudice from the lack of a continuance.24 Accordingly, Ryan’s

appeal is not ripe for review. He may, of course, still seek proper review of his claim

by postconviction relief.25

       NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the sentence imposed by the

Superior Court is AFFIRMED.

                                            BY THE COURT:
                                            /s/ N. Christopher Griffiths
                                            Justice

22
   Dobson v. State, 80 A.3d 959, 2013 WL 5918409, at *2 (Del. Oct. 31, 2013) (ORDER) (citing
Lewis v. State, 757 A.2d 709, 717 (Del. 2000)); see also Cooke, 977 A.2d at 848; Supr. Ct. R. 8.
23
   Berghuis v. Thompkins, 560 U.S. 370, 389 (2010) (quoting Knowles v. Mirzayance, 556 U.S.
111, 122 (2009)).
24
   Duross, 494 A.2d at 1268.
25
   Id. at 1269.
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