Thomas v. State ( 2016 )

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE
JEFFREY W. THOMAS, §
§ No. 441, 2016
Defendant Below- §
Appellant, §
§
v. § Court Below—Superior Court
§ of the State of Delaware
STATE OF DELAWARE, §
§ Cr. ID 1403008516
Plaintiff Below- §
Appellee. §
Submitted: September 6, 2016
Decided: October 21, 2016
Before VALIHURA, VAUGHN, and SEITZ, Justices.
ORDER
This 21st day of October 2016, upon consideration of the notice to
show cause and the appellant’s response, it appears to the Court that:
(1) The appellant, Jeffrey Thomas, filed this appeal from a decision
of the Superior Court, denying his motion for appointment of counsel to
pursue a motion for postconviction relief. The Chief Deputy Clerk issued a
notice to Thomas directing him to show cause why the appeal should not be
dismissed for this Court's lack of jurisdiction to entertain an interlocutory
appeal in a criminal matter.
(2) Thomas filed a response to the notice to show cause on
September 6, 2016. The response addresses the merits of his appeal but does
not address the interlocutory nature of the appeal.
(3) Under the Delaware Constitution, only a final judgment may be
reviewed by the Court in a criminal case.1 The Court has no jurisdiction to
entertain an appeal from an interlocutory order in a criminal matter.2
(4) The Superior Court's August 8, 2016 order is an interlocutory
order. The denial of the motion for appointment of counsel is not appealable
as a collateral order before the entry of a final judgment on any
postconviction motion that Thomas may file.3
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that this appeal is hereby
DISMISSED.
BY THE COURT:
/s/ James T. Vaughn, Jr.
Justice
1
Del. Const. art. IV, § 11(1)(b).
2
Robinson v. State, 704 A.2d 269, 271 (Del. 1998).
3
Harris v. State, 2013 WL 4858990 (Del. Sept. 10, 2013).
-2-