Opinion
344, 2021
08-19-2022
HARRY L. SAMUEL, Defendant Below, Appellant, v. STATE OF DELAWARE, Appellee.
Submitted: June 23, 2022
Court Below—Superior Court of the State of Delaware Cr. ID No. 93005924DI (N)
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and TRAYNOR, Justices.
ORDER
James T. Vaughn, Jr. Justice
After consideration of the appellant's opening brief, the appellee's motion to affirm, and the record on appeal, we conclude that the Superior Court order's summarily dismissing the appellant's fifth motion for postconviction relief should be affirmed. The motion was untimely and successive. The appellant has not pleaded with particularity new evidence of actual innocence or that a new, retroactive rule of constitutional law renders his convictions invalid. The appellant's argument that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction under Superior Court Criminal Rule 61(i)(5) because two counts in the indictment charged him with assault in a detention center that was incorrectly identified as Delaware Correctional Center instead of Plummer Center is without merit.
Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(i)(1). In 2005, Rule 61(i)(1) was amended to reduce the postconviction limitation period for convictions obtained after July 1, 2005 from three years to one year. The appellant's convictions were obtained before July 1, 2005.
Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(i)(2).
Del. Super. Ct. Crim. R. 61(d)(2).
See 11 Del. C. § 2701(c) ("The Superior Court shall have jurisdiction, original and concurrent, over all crimes, except where jurisdiction is exclusively vested in another court."). See also In re Gordon, 2020 WL 5883444, at *1 (Del. Oct. 2, 2020) (holding defendant had not shown that the absence of the victim's age in rape counts of indictment deprived the Superior Court of jurisdiction); Miller v. State, 2020 WL 582715, at *1 (Del. Feb. 5, 2020) (rejecting claim that the Superior Court lacked jurisdiction as a result of deficiencies in the indictment) (citing Fountain v. State, 288 A.2d 277, 278-79 (Del. 1972)).
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that motion to affirm is GRANTED and the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED.