IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
MALACHAI Z. DEBRUCE, §
(f/k/a Michael D. Glenn), §
§ No. 264, 2019
Defendant Below– §
Appellant, §
§ Court Below–Superior Court
v. § of the State of Delaware
§
STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID 1608006240 (K)
§
Plaintiff Below– §
Appellee. §
Submitted: June 25, 2019
Decided: August 29, 2019
Before STRINE, Chief Justice; VALIHURA and VAUGHN, Justices.
ORDER
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 appellant, Malachai Z. DeBruce, appeals from the Superior
Court’s June 7, 2019 order sentencing him for his second violation of
probation (“VOP”). The State has filed a motion to affirm the judgment below
on the ground that it is manifest on the face of DeBruce’s opening brief that
his appeal is without merit. We agree and affirm.
(2) The record reflects that DeBruce pleaded guilty to one count of
felony theft on August 25, 2016. The Superior Court sentenced DeBruce to
two years of Level V imprisonment, suspended after six months for one year
of Level III probation. In February of 2018, the Superior Court found
DeBruce had violated the terms of his probation and sentenced him to eighteen
months of Level V incarceration, suspended after six months for nine months
of Level IV work release to be followed by one year of Level III probation.
DeBruce filed a motion for correction of illegal sentence under Superior Court
Criminal Rule 35(a), which the Superior Court denied. DeBruce appealed.
(3) On appeal, the State acknowledged that the total suspended
portion of DeBruce’s original sentence was eighteen months and, thus,
conceded that the Superior Court’s VOP sentence totaling twenty-seven
months was illegal. We reversed the Superior Court’s denial of DeBruce’s
motion for correction of an illegal sentence and remanded with directions for
the Superior Court to correct its sentence by reducing the Level III portion of
DeBruce’s VOP sentence from one year to three months.1
(4) On remand, the Superior Court sentenced DeBruce to eighteen
months of Level V incarceration, suspended after six months for nine months
of Level IV work release to be followed by three months of Level III
probation. As corrected, DeBruce’s sentence totaled eighteen months.
1
DeBruce v. State, 2018 WL 5809814 (Del. Nov. 5, 2018).
2
(5) A probation administrative warrant was issued for DeBruce on
May 23, 2019, alleging that DeBruce had violated the terms of his probation
by committing new criminal offenses. On June 7, 2019, the Superior Court
found DeBruce had violated the terms of his probation and sentenced him to
eleven months of Level V incarceration, with credit for time served. DeBruce
appeals.
(6) DeBruce does not dispute that he violated the terms of his
probation. His sole issue on appeal relates to his sentence. DeBruce argues
that the Superior Court did not comply with this Court’s prior order and
contends that, under that order, the maximum Level V sentence the court
could have imposed at his June 7, 2019 VOP hearing was three months, or the
Level III portion of his corrected sentence. DeBruce is incorrect. We reversed
DeBruce’s February 2018 VOP sentence because it exceeded the balance of
the Level V time remaining under his original sentence and the Superior Court
corrected DeBruce’s sentence to comply with our order. This Court’s review
of a sentence generally is limited to determining whether the sentence is
within statutory limits.2 Once the State has proven by a preponderance of
evidence that a VOP has occurred, the Superior Court is authorized to impose
any period of incarceration up to and including the balance of the Level V
2
Mayes v. State, 604 A.2d 839, 842-43 (Del. 1992).
3
time remaining to be served on the original sentence.3 Accordingly, the
Superior Court could have sentenced DeBruce up to the balance of the Level
V time remaining on his original sentence—at that point, twelve months. His
sentence of eleven months of Level V time was not improper.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the
Superior Court is AFFIRMED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ Karen L. Valihura
Justice
3
11 Del. C. § 4334(c).
4