Braxton v. State

CHRISTIE, Justice:

In this case the Court must decide what remedy is available to a criminal defendant whose attorney was given a timely instruction to file an appeal to the Delaware Supreme Court but failed to do so in violation of his duties under Rule 26(a).

The defendant, Wilbert T. Braxton, Jr., was convicted, after a jury trial, of rape second degree and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony. He was sentenced on April 30, 1982 to ten years of imprisonment, five years of which was a mandatory minimum term under the provisions of 11 Del.C. § 1447(b) before it was…