Henry R. Horsey

In State v. Maxwell, the defendant was charged with vehicular homicide in the second degree and driving under the influence after a single-vehicle accident that resulted in a fatality. The Superior Court granted Maxwell's pretrial motion to suppress the results of a blood alcohol test, ruling that police lacked probable cause to obtain the blood sample. On appeal, the Delaware Supreme Court reversed that ruling, holding that probable cause existed based on witness accounts of Maxwell admitting he had been drinking, the presence of numerous beer containers in and around the overturned truck, a strong odor of alcohol at the scene, and the circumstances of the crash indicating the driver failed to negotiate a turn. The court determined these facts collectively provided a sufficient basis for officers to believe Maxwell had been driving while impaired, justifying the blood draw under Delaware law. The matter was remanded for further proceedings.

criminal lawprocedure

In Passerin v. State, the defendant appealed his convictions for five counts of second-degree arson and one count of second-degree solicitation stemming from a 1975 fire at his leased business premises in an industrial park. The Delaware Supreme Court reversed the convictions and remanded for a new trial, holding that evidence obtained from warrantless re-entries and searches of the fire-damaged premises after the initial firefighting and investigation on the day of the fire was inadmissible under the Fourth Amendment. The court reasoned that, consistent with Michigan v. Tyler, once the fire was extinguished and the premises secured, subsequent entries by fire marshals over multiple days to gather evidence of arson required a search warrant, as the business owner retained a reasonable expectation of privacy. No warrants were obtained, and the premises were cordoned off, preventing the defendant from accessing his property during the extended investigation.

criminal lawprocedure