Court Opinion

ID: 9371793
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-02-16 21:03:01.331282+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:16:30.313035
License: Public Domain

SUPERIOR COURT
                                       OF THE
                             STATE OF DELAWARE
FERRIS W. WHARTON                                          LEONARD L. WILLIAMS JUSTICE CENTER
   JUDGE                                                   WILMINGTON, DE 19801-3733
                                                           PHONE: (302) 255-0657
                                                           FAX: (302) 255-2273

                          Submitted: November 4, 20221
                           Decided: February 15, 2023

John W. Downs, Esquire                       Megan J. Davies, Esquire
Matthew B. Frawley, Esquire                  716 Tatnall Street
Samuel B. Kenney, Esquire                    Wilmington, DE 19801
Deputy Attorneys General
Department of Justice                        Richard Sparaco, Esquire
820 N. French St.                            1920 Fairfax Avenue
Wilmington, DE 19801                         Cherry Hill, NJ 08003, and
                                             P.O. Box 371
                                             Lewes, DE 19958

                                             Keith Gibson # 00303443
                                             James T. Vaughn Correctional Center
                                             1181 Paddock Rd.
                                             Smyrna, DE 19977

                   Re: State v. Keith Gibson
          ID Nos. 2106004632; 21060044704; 2107000202; 2107000514

       Upon Defendant Keith Gibson’s Pro Se Motion for Reconsideration,
                                 DENIED.

1
  The materials were received in chambers on November 4, 2022. As an
unauthorized filing, they appear in the docket with the notation “Rule 47 Referral to
counsel memorandum filed.” See, D.I. 70 (December 7, 2022) and D.I 71
(December 1, 2022).
Dear Counsel and Mr. Gibson:

      In the status report dated February 13, 2023, counsel clarified that the
Defendant’s 400 plus page pro se filing was intended to be viewed as a “Motion to
Reconsider the Court’s prior rulings and/or to reconsider the Court’s denial of a
rehearing.” A chronology of the Court’s recent decisions is helpful to put this
purported motion to reconsider in context.

     Before being allowed to withdraw, Gibson’s original attorneys filed six
motions on his behalf. The Court issued an order dealing with those motions on
November 2, 2022.2 On November 3rd, the Court granted those attorneys’ second
motion to withdraw as counsel.3

       Prior to issuing those orders, on August 31, 2022, the Court granted Gibson
limited permission to pursue on his own the motions he wanted prior counsel to file,
but that they had refused to file because, in their view, the motions lacked merit.4
The next day, the Court wrote Gibson explaining the scope of that limited
permission.5 Specifically, the Court permitted Gibson to address by way of pro se
motion his contention that the arrest warrants in ID Nos. 2106004704 and
2106004632 were constitutionally defective because Wilmington Police Cpl. Ryan
Kilmon and Det. A. Ford made material misstatements and material omissions in
their affidavits in order to obtain them.6 It also permitted Gibson to address his claim
alleging that the prosecution and police engaged in misconduct related to pretrial
publicity and in securing the arrest warrants and indictment.7 Finally, it allowed him
to advance his contention that the arrest warrant in ID No. 2106004632 was not
supported by oath or affirmation and was not signed by the affiant or the issuing
judicial authority.8

2
  State v. Gibson, 2022 WL 16642860 (Del. Super. Ct. Nov. 2, 2022).
3
  D.I. 60.
4
  See, D.I. 65, 66. (Docket Items are from ID. No. 2106004632A).
5
  D.I. 66.
6
  Id.
7
  Id.
8
  Id.
                                          2
      Gibson filed his motions on September 16, 2022.9 The Court issued its
decision on those motions on December 5, 2022.10 On January 18, 2023, the Court
received several letters from Gibson.11 The Court treated those letters in the
aggregate as a motion to reargue the decision it issued on December 5, 2022.12 It
denied that motion on January 19, 2023.13

        On November 18, 2022, the State wrote to the Court.14 In that letter, the State
observed that on November 15, 2022, it received a package, postmarked November
2nd, from Gibson containing 441 pages that appeared to raise some of the same
issues raised in his pro se motions and some others.15 The State advised that it did
not intend to respond to these materials because they were untimely, having been
filed after the Court’s September 30, 2022 deadline for filing pro se motions.16 The
State represented that it would forward these materials to new defense counsel when
they were appointed.17 Presumably, current defense counsel has these materials. By
letter dated November 21, 2022, the Court advised Gibson that it would not rule on
this filing since it was untimely.18

       It is unclear to the Court what rulings Gibson is asking the Court to reconsider
given that his materials were postmarked November 2, 2022. That date is the same
day the Court ruled on his previous attorneys’ motions and before the Court ruled
on his motions. What is clear to the Court, however, is that he does not ask the Court
to reconsider any ruling the Court made on any pro se motion the Court permitted
him to file under Rule 47 since the Court did not address those motions until
December 5, 2022.

9
  D.I. 57, 58, 63.
10
   State v. Gibson, 2022 WL 17430368 (Del. Super. Ct. Dec. 5, 2022).
11
   D.I. 76-78.
12
   State v. Gibson, 2023 WL 315332 (Del. Super. Ct. Jan. 19, 2023).
13
   Id.
14
   D.I. 61.
15
   Id.
16
   Id.
17
   Id.
18
   D.I. 62.
                                       3
    Therefore, Gibson’s 441 page filing, treated as a Motion to Reconsider, is
DENIED.

IT IS SO ORDERED.

                                               /s/ Ferris W. Wharton
                                                Ferris W. Wharton, J.

oc: Prothonotary

                                      4