From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Govan v. State

Supreme Court of Delaware
Aug 30, 2002
805 A.2d 902 (Del. 2002)

Opinion

No. 366, 2002

Submitted: August 21, 2002

Decided: August 30, 2002

Court Below — Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for New Castle County Cr.A. Nos. IN92-10-1586 thru -1596 Cr. ID 92010166DI.


Affirmed.

Unpublished opinion is below.

ARTHUR GOVAN, Defendant Below-Appellant, v. STATE OF DELAWARE, Plaintiff Below-Appellee. No. 366, 2002 In the Supreme Court of the State of Delaware. Submitted: August 21, 2002 Decided: August 30, 2002

Before VEASEY, Chief Justice, WALSH, and HOLLAND, Justices.

ORDER

JOSEPH T. WALSH, Justice:

This 30th day of August 2002, upon consideration of the appellant's opening brief, the State's motion to affirm, and the record below, it appears to the Court that:

(1) The defendant-appellant, Arthur Govan, was convicted in June 1993 of multiple counts of first degree murder, weapon charges, and related offenses. The Superior Court sentenced Govan to four life terms of imprisonment without parole plus an additional 115 years imprisonment. His convictions and sentences were affirmed on direct appeal, and all of his subsequent postconviction petitions have been unsuccessful. In May 2002, Govan filed a motion pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 36 seeking to correct the sentences on his weapon convictions to reflect that the sentences were not mandatory. The Superior Court denied Govan's motion. This appeal ensued.

(2) After careful consideration, we find the Superior Court's decision to be manifestly correct. Relief under Rule 36 is limited to the correction of clerical errors. The transcript of Govan's sentencing reflects that the Superior Court sentenced Govan on the weapon charges to mandatory terms of incarceration. Accordingly, there is no clerical error in the judgment that can be remedied under Rule 36. The Superior Court thus did not abuse its discretion in denying Govan relief under Rule 36.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED.


Summaries of

Govan v. State

Supreme Court of Delaware
Aug 30, 2002
805 A.2d 902 (Del. 2002)
Case details for

Govan v. State

Case Details

Full title:ARTHUR GOVAN, Defendant Below-Appellant, v. STATE OF DELAWARE, Plaintiff…

Court:Supreme Court of Delaware

Date published: Aug 30, 2002

Citations

805 A.2d 902 (Del. 2002)

Citing Cases

State v. Govan

Superior Court Docket No. 115.Govan v. State, 2002 WL 2017233 (Del.Supr. 2002). 6. On January 13, 2003,…