State v. Shelley

── State v. Shelley ── Court: Superior Court of Delaware Date: April 28, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE STATE OF DELAWARE ) ) ) ID No. 9804001318 v. ) ) LEROY SHELLEY, ) ) Defendant. ) ) Submitted: April 23, 2026 Decided: April 28, 2026 Upon Defendant’s Motion Pursuant to Rule 35(a) to Correct an Illegal Sentence DENIED. ORDER Brian J. Robertson, Esquire, Deputy Attorney General, DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE, 820 N. French St., Wilmington, Delaware, Attorney for the State of Delaware. Leroy Shelley, SBI# 603729, James T. Vaughn Correctional Center, 1181 Paddock Road, Smyrna, DE 19977, Defendant, pro se. WHARTON, J.  This 28th day of April 2026, upon consideration of Defendant Leroy Shelley’s (“Shelley”) current Motion to Correct an Illegal Sentence Pursuant to Rule 35(a),1 and the record in this matter, it appears to the Court that: 1. Shelley was convicted by a jury in 2007 of two counts each of Robbery First Degree, Kidnapping Second Degree, and Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a Felony (“PFDCF”), as well as a single count of Conspiracy Second Degree. He waived his right to counsel and represented himself at trial. He was sentenced on March 6, 2008, to 18 ½ years of unsuspended imprisonment followed by probation. That period of imprisonment was broken down as follows: four years with no probation to follow on each robbery charge, five years suspended after two years for probation on each kidnapping charge, three years with no probation to follow on each PFDCF charge, and six months with no probation to follow on the conspiracy charge. 2. Shelley did not file a direct appeal. Instead, he has steadily pursued, with one minor exception, unsuccessful collateral attacks on his conviction and sentences. First he moved for postconviction relief in 2009. That motion was denied as procedurally defaulted because Shelley’s claims could have been raised on direct appeal had he filed one. 2 Shelley’s appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court of that order was dismissed as untimely. 3 After an unsuccessful attempt at federal habeas 1 D.I. 113. 2 D.I. 28. 3 Shelley v. State, 2010 WL 1627335 (Del. Apr. 21, 2010). 2 corpus relief in 2010, 4 Shelley filed his first attempt to vacate his sentence. That motion, in which he argued that his re-indictment was defective, causing the court to lack jurisdiction, was treated as a second postconviction relief motion and was denied again for procedural default.5 The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed that decision. 6 This Court summarily dismissed his third postconviction relief motion on October 27, 2014. 7 It denied Shelley’s Motion for Modification of Sentence on March 7, 2017.8 The Supreme Court affirmed.9 This Court denied his Petition for a Writ of Habeas Corpus on April 20, 2017.10 The Supreme Court affirmed. 11 A Motion for Sentence Clarification was denied on October 6, 2017. 12 The Supreme Court affirmed.13 Shelley’s Motion to Recuse was denied on July 13, 2018. 14 The Supreme Court dismissed his appeal. 15 A Motion to Vacate Sentence was denied on July 12, 2019.16 A second Motion to Vacate was denied on July 31, 2019. 17 That decision was affirmed on January 7, 2020.18 His fourth postconviction relief motion was denied by 4 Shelley v. Delaware, 2012 WL 379907 (D. Del. 2012). 5 D.I. 61. 6 Shelley v. State, 53 A.3d 303 (Del. 2012). 7 Shelley v. State, 2014 WL 5713236 (Del. Super. Oct. 27, 2014). 8 D.I. 53. 9 Shelley v. State, 2017 WL 2686551 (Del. Jun. 21, 2017). 10 D.I. 63. 11 Shelley v. State, 2017 WL 3122316 (Del. Jul. 1