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Crosby v. State5/30/2003
Submitted: April 8, 2003
Upon appeal from the Superior Court. REVERSED.
The defendant-appellant, Chris A. Crosby, has challenged his life sentence as a habitual offender, following his conviction for Forgery in the Second Degree. According to Crosby, that sentence is grossly disproportionate to the severity of his offense, and, therefore, prohibited by the Eighth Amendment to the United States Constitution. This Court remanded Crosby's appeal to the Superior Court twice for additional proceedings.
In response to the most recent remand, the Superior Court concluded that "Crosby is serving a life sentence calculated on the basis of 45 years." The Superior Court reached that determination on the basis that a life sentence under section 4214(a) of the habitual offender statute is to be considered as a fixed term of 45 years, pursuant to section 4346(c). We have concluded that the Superior Court's construction of section 4214(a) is correct.
We have also concluded that Crosby's life sentence of 45 years violates the Eighth Amendment. In doing so, we have considered the most recent opinions on that subject, which were issued by the United States Supreme Court within the last few months. Accordingly, the judgment of the Superior Court is reversed.
Facts
On May 31, 2001, Crosby was arrested on several misdemeanor drug offenses. When he was being questioned by a police officer, he provided a false name, John Crosby, and a false date of birth. He also signed a State Bureau of Identification fingerprint card, an official document, using the name John Crosby. When the police officer subsequently learned that the defendant's real name was Chris Crosby, he arrested him for Forgery in the Second Degree and Criminal Impersonation.
On September 17, 2001, Crosby, represented by counsel, entered a guilty plea to Forgery in the Second Degree and Criminal Impersonation. During the guilty plea colloquy, Crosby acknowledged that the forgery conviction qualified him as a habitual offender under title 11, section 4214(a) of the Delaware Code. Crosby also indicated he was aware that he could be sentenced up to life imprisonment.
The State subsequently filed a motion to have Crosby declared a habitual offender under title 11, section 4214(a) of the Delaware Code. The State cited five previous felonies: (1) Burglary in the Third Degree (IN98-11-0691) in 1999; (2) Forgery in the Second Degree (IN94-06-0144) in 1995; (3) Possession of a Deadly Weapon by a Person Prohibited (IN88-11-1556) in 1989; (4) Possession with Intent to Deliver (IN89-07-0672) in 1989; and (5) Burglary in the Second Degree (IN86-02-0421) in 1986. The Superior Court declared Crosby a habitual offender by order dated October 1, 2001.
At the sentencing hearing on December 7, 2001, the State recommended a sentence "close to the ten-year range." The Superior Court instead sentenced Crosby to life on the forgery conviction, as a habitual offender, under section 4214(a); followed by six months at Level III supervision; and one year at Level V on the criminal impersonation conviction, suspended for one year at Level II. This is Crosby's direct appeal.
Crosby's Sentence
Natural Life or 45 Years
The sentencing judge's first remand report to this Court reflected that Crosby's life sentence was based, in part, on the judge's belief that Crosby would be "eligible for a significant sentence diminution by earning good time." The sentencing judge stated that Delaware law equates Crosby's life sentence, as a habitual offender under title 11, section 4214(a) of the Delaware Code, to a sentence of 45 years. Therefore, the sente
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