Phillips v. State

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court remanded the matter after determining that Phillips's notice of appeal from the denial of postconviction relief was untimely. Although prison personnel are not court-related personnel, the Court found that an inaccurate mailing address supplied by the prison law library warranted vacating and reissuing the Superior Court's order to provide Phillips an opportunity to file a timely appeal.

Holdings

1. A notice of appeal must be received by the Delaware Supreme Court within the applicable filing period to be effective.
2. Prison personnel are not court-related personnel, so a delay caused by prison personnel ordinarily cannot excuse an untimely notice of appeal.
3. Although the untimely filing could not be excused on the ground that prison personnel caused the delay, the matter should be remanded so the Superior Court could vacate and re-issue its order, giving Phillips an opportunity to file a timely notice of appeal.

Questions Presented

1. Whether the appeal had to be dismissed because the notice of appeal was not received within the applicable filing period.
2. Whether inaccurate mailing information supplied by prison law-library personnel justified excusing the untimely filing or otherwise warranted relief.

Disposition

remanded