Boulden v. State

── Boulden v. State ── Court: Supreme Court of Delaware Date: May 07, 2026 Category: General IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE RONALD BOULDEN, § § Defendant Below, § No. 309, 2025 Appellant, § § Court Below: Superior Court v. § of the State of Delaware § STATE OF DELAWARE, § Cr. ID No. 2404004434 (N) § Appellee. § § Submitted: March 17, 2026 Decided: May 7, 2026 Before SEITZ, Chief Justice; VALIHURA, TRAYNOR, LEGROW, and GRIFFITHS, Justices, constituting the Court en Banc. ORDER The Court, having considered the briefs and the record below, and after oral argument, rules as follows: (1) A grand jury indicted Ronald Boulden for crimes relating to pointing a gun at his neighbor and threatening to kill him. A Superior Court jury found Boulden guilty of Aggravated Menacing and Terroristic Threatening. The court sentenced Boulden to four years at Level V, with credit for time served, suspended for 18 months of Level III probation, to be suspended after 12 months for 6 months at Level II. Boulden has appealed his convictions. He claims that the Superior Court erred by denying his motion in limine to dismiss the charges or by not providing a missing evidence instruction related to doorbell camera video and audio evidence. We affirm. (2) According to the evidence at trial, Boulden and Alessi were neighbors in New Castle, Delaware.1 On April 10, 2024, Alessi was changing car tires in his driveway.2 Alessi saw that Boulden’s granddaughter had arrived at Boulden’s home.3 Alessi walked towards Boulden’s property but remained on another neighbor’s driveway and spoke with her.4 He asked the granddaughter to speak with his stepdaughter and resolve their dispute.5 (3) Boulden came out of his house, began screaming to “get out,” and pointed a gun at Alessi.6 Alessi replied that he was not on Boulden’s property.7 Boulden responded that he did not care and threatened to kill him. 8 Alessi backed 1 Appendix to Appellant’s Opening Br. at A71 [hereinafter A__]. 2 A98–99. 3 A99. 4 A99–100, A102. The other neighbor’s driveway was located in between Alessi’s and Boulden’s properties. A99–100. 5 A99–100. 6 A100–101. 7 Id., A112. 8 A100–103. 2 away from Boulden’s property towards his garage and called the police.9 (4) After the police arrived, a neighbor came out of another home.10 While the police watched, the neighbor scrolled through his doorbell camera clips on his cell phone.11 They identified two clips, but only one had recorded part of the incident.12 The one clip captured a verbal exchange between Alessi and Boulden.13 Police determined that the clip did not capture any video evidence of the incident.14 The police replayed the clip and recorded the audio on Corporal Andrew Davis’s bodycam.15 (5) The police took Boulden into custody and obtained search warrants for his home and car.16 They recovered a revolver from Boulden’s residence.17 The State charged Boulden for Possession of a Firearm During the Commission of a 9 A100–101, A112. 10 A71, A260, at 0:10. 11 A260, at 0:20. 12 Id. at 1:58. 13 Id. at 2:17. 14 Id. at 2:00. A71, A74–75, id. The bodycam footage only captures the audio from the doorbell camera clips. 15 Boulden was not seen walking into the view of the doorbell camera. A74–75, A247. 16 A79–80, A84–85. 17 A91, A125–27. 3 Felony, Aggravated Menacing, and Terroristic Thre