Baldwin v. State

── Baldwin v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Delaware Date: April 16, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE DARYL BALDWIN, § § No. 431, 2024 Defendant Below, § Appellant, § Court Below: Superior Court § of the State of Delaware v. § § Cr. ID No. 2306010642A(K) STATE OF DELAWARE, § 2306010642B(K) § Appellee. § Submitted: January 21, 2026 Decided: April 16, 2026 Before TRAYNOR, LEGROW and GRIFFITHS, Justices. Upon appeal from the Superior Court of the State of Delaware. REVERSED. Robert M. Goff, Esquire, Office of the Public Defender, Wilmington, Delaware, for Appellant Daryl Baldwin. John Williams, Esquire, Delaware Department of Justice, Wilmington, Delaware, for Appellee State of Delaware. LEGROW, Justice:  This is a difficult case. The defendant was convicted of numerous felony offenses involving the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl. Physical evidence, including DNA, supported the indicted charges, and the complaining witness was below the age at which she could consent to sexual contact with the defendant. The State’s case was a strong one. But one of the key issues at trial was whether the defendant engaged in sexual intercourse with the victim. The resolution of that issue affected the lead charges in the case, which carried substantial mandatory prison terms. Male DNA was found in the complaining witness’s vaginal vestibule, but there was insufficient DNA material to either include or exclude the defendant as the source of that DNA. Nevertheless, over the defendant’s objection, the court excluded as unfairly prejudicial evidence that spermatozoa found on the complaining witness’s underwear was attributable to an unidentified male who was conclusively not the defendant. Because the exclusion of that evidence deprived the defendant of the opportunity to argue to the jury that another individual was the source of the male DNA found in the complaining witness’s vaginal vestibule, we reverse the defendant’s convictions on the charges involving the sexual-intercourse finding and remand for a new trial as to those charges. 1  I. On June 17, 2023, Daryl Baldwin visited H.A.’s home to smoke crack with H.A.’s mother and stepfather. Later that night or early the following morning, thirteen-year-old H.A. left the home with Baldwin. Baldwin drove his black 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo to two local motels. Surveillance video from those two locations showed Baldwin engaging in what appeared to be drug transactions. H.A. fell asleep in the car. When she woke up, it was approximately 5:30 a.m. on June 18, 2023, and Baldwin was parked in a secluded, wooded area near Bowers Beach. Baldwin, who was naked when H.A. woke up, then sexually assaulted H.A. H.A. testified that Baldwin kissed her; removed her clothing; choked her; touched her breasts, vagina, buttocks, and legs; forced her to perform oral sex on him; and put both his finger and his penis in her vagina. After Baldwin fell asleep in the backseat, H.A. quietly gathered her belongings, left the car, and ran down the street to call 911. Trooper Emmanuel Velez responded to the 911 call and found H.A. on Whitwells Delight Road in Bowers Beach. H.A. directed Trooper Velez to the tree line, where Baldwin’s car was still parked. Trooper Velez found Baldwin naked and asleep in the backseat of the car and arrested him. Law enforcement transported H.A. to the hospital, where a forensic nurse performed a sexual assault examination. H.A.’s urine screen tested positive for