Basher v. State

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed Joseph Basher’s conviction and sentence for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited and his sentencing as a habitual offender. The Court rejected his claims concerning the firearm charge enhancement, habitual-offender eligibility, coercion of his guilty plea, sentencing, and disparity with his co-defendant, while declining to consider ineffective-assistance claims on direct appeal. The Court granted no relief under Supreme Court Rule 26(c) and affirmed the Superior Court’s judgment.

Holdings

1. The Supreme Court will not consider ineffective-assistance claims on direct appeal when the issue was not decided on the merits in the trial court.
2. A prior conviction for drug dealing qualifying as a Title 16 violent felony makes a prohibited person's firearm-possession offense eligible for the enhanced penalty under 11 Del. C. § 1448(e)(1); the offense is then treated as a Class C felony for sentencing purposes under § 1448(c).
3. A § 1448(e) firearm-possession conviction that is a violent Title 11 felony constitutes the first Title 11 violent felony necessary to trigger eligibility for habitual-offender sentencing under 11 Del. C. § 4214(b).
4. Basher failed to show that his guilty plea was coerced, involuntary, or unknowingly entered.
5. Basher's sentence was lawful because the nine years of unsuspended Level V incarceration fell within the statutory sentencing range, and the record showed no impermissible factual basis, vindictiveness, bias, or closed-mindedness.
6. The appeal was wholly without merit and devoid of any arguably appealable issue, and appointed counsel satisfied the required conscientious review.

Questions Presented

1. Whether ineffective-assistance-of-counsel claims could be considered for the first time on direct appeal when the trial court had not decided them on the merits.
2. Whether Basher's prior drug-dealing conviction properly qualified as a violent felony for purposes of the enhanced firearm-possession penalty under 11 Del. C. § 1448(e)(1).
3. Whether the enhanced firearm-possession conviction properly constituted a first Title 11 violent felony triggering habitual-offender eligibility under 11 Del. C. § 4214(b).
4. Whether Basher's guilty plea was coerced, involuntary, or unknowingly entered.
5. Whether the sentence exceeded the State's recommendation or was disproportionate to the codefendant's sentence.
6. Whether the appeal presented any arguably appealable issue under Delaware Supreme Court Rule 26(c).

Disposition

affirmed