Opinion
No. 9706013005.
Date Submitted: March 17, 2000.
Date Decided: March 22, 2000.
Upon Reconsideration of Defendant's Motion to Withdraw a Guilty Plea: GRANTED.
ORDER
This 22 day of March, 2000, it appears to the Court that:
1. On December 17, 1997, the defendant Douglas J. Riley ("Defendant") pled guilty pursuant to Superior Court Criminal Rule 11 (e)(1)(C) to one count of UnlawfUl Sexual Contact in the Second Degree. Defendant's attorney requested a pre-sentence investigation before the sentencing of the defendant. The Court agreed, a pre-sentence report was prepared, and on April 17, 1998 Defendant was sentenced to two (2) years of incarceration suspended after serving 30 days, followed by various levels of probation. Defendant was ordered to make restitution in the amount of $11,839.00.
Tr. of Guilty Plea of 12/17/97 at 7.
On April 22, 1998, Defendant filed a motion to withdraw his guilty plea, and on May 29, 1998, Defendant filed a motion to strike a condition of the sentencing order. On June 25, 1998, an office conference was held to address Defendant's motions. At the office conference, the State and defense counsel agreed that the amount of $11,839.00 in medical bills was not the sole result of the victim's encounter with the defendant. The parties requested that the Court defer decision on the matter until counsel had an opportunity to reach an agreement as to the amount of restitution to be paid. The parties failed to report to the Court and on December 3, 1998, the Court denied Defendant's motion to strike a condition of the sentencing order and gave Defendant until December 15, 1998 to withdraw his plea. Defendant filed another motion to withdraw his guilty plea on December 10, 1998. By Order dated December 21, 1998, the Court denied Defendant's motion. Defendant appealed this Order to the Supreme Court.
Tr. of Office Conf. of 6/25/98 at 6.
Tr. of Office Conf. of 6/25/98 at 7-8.
2. On January 13, 2000, the Supreme Court remanded the matter to this Court for reconsideration of Defendant's motion to withdraw his guilty plea with an explanation for either denying or granting Defendant's motion.
Riley v. State, Del. Supr., No. 553, 1998, Holland, J. (Jan. 13, 2000).
3. An office conference was held on February 14, 2000 to address the matter on remand. Defense counsel again expressed concern with the amount of restitution ordered by this Court. Counsel maintained that the victim was in therapy before her encounter with the defendant and the restitution amount of $11,839.00 in therapy expenses is not the sole result of the incident in question. The State agreed to re-evaluate the amount of restitution and report back to the Court in 30 days with an amount to be agreed upon by the parties.
4. The State responded to the Court in the form of a letter on March 15, 2000. The State submitted documentation supporting an amount of $8,152.00 in therapy expenses stemming from this incident. Defendant responded to the State's submission on March 17, 2000 indicating that an agreement had not been reached with the State as to the appropriate allocation of responsibility for Defendant's acts and Defendant therefore requests that he be permitted to withdraw his guilty plea.
5. Because the parties have been unable to reach an agreement as to the amount of restitution, the Court at this time will allow the defendant to withdraw his plea of guilty as had been indicated on December 3, 1998.
For the foregoing reasons, Defendant's Motion to Withdraw Guilty Plea is GRANTED. The plea of guilty is stricken, the nolle prosequis are stricken and all charges are reinstated. Trial date to be set.
IT IS SO ORDERED. _________________________________ The Honorable Richard S. Gebelein
Orig: Prothonotary cc: Clerk of the Supreme Court Christina Showalter, Esq., DAG Joseph Hurley, Esq.