WILMINGTON, DE – Deputy Attorneys General within the Delaware Department of Justice had several significant successes recently, including a case where a juvenile was adjudicated as an adult for a crime involving a firearm, consistent with Attorney General Denn’s announced focus on teens with guns.

Resolutions:

Deputy Attorneys General Jamie McCloskey and Caterina Gatto secured a guilty plea from 16-year-old Brandon Pendergast of Townsend, for second degree assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony. Following an altercation during a Middletown High School football game on September 5, 2014, Pendergast, while riding in a van along East Lake Street, shot two teenagers on the street. Prosecutors also prevailed in a reverse amenability hearing on February 20, 2015, which kept all of the charges in Superior Court.

Deputy Attorney General Mark Denney secured a guilty from Brandon Turner, 21, of New Castle, to drug dealing and conspiracy, and from Alvin Phillips, 49, of Wilmington, for second degree conspiracy. The pair were involved in the sale of heroin throughout the New Castle area.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Robertson secured a guilty plea from Khalif Lewis 26, of Wilmington, for carrying a concealed deadly weapon. During a pedestrian stop along Concord Avenue in Wilmington in October 2014, police found Lewis trying to hide a loaded semi-automatic handgun.

Deputy Attorney General John Taylor secured a guilty plea for possession of a deadly weapon by a person prohibited, and second degree assault, from Jason Hall 46, of Wilmington. On August 27, 2014, Hall exchanged words with another man at a gas station on North Market Street in Wilmington. During the argument, Hall swung a box cutter at the victim, slicing him on the hand.

Deputy Attorney General Brian Robertson secured a guilty plea against 29-year-old Leroy Mitchell of Wilmington, for possession of a firearm by a person prohibited. Mitchell was stopped by police in the 800 block of Morrow Street in Wilmington for not wearing a seatbelt. When officers approached the car, they detected the smell of marijuana, which led them to search the vehicle. Officers found a loaded 9mm handgun next to the driver’s seat.

Deputy Attorneys General John Downs and Jan van Amerongen secured a guilty plea in State v. David Yarborough, 30, of Bear, to two counts of first degree attempted assault, and two counts of second degree burglary. Yarborough tried to hire a hitman to harm two individuals, but it turned out he was negotiating with an undercover officer. The Habitual Offender motion will be filed for the burglary charges, making the mandatory time for the assault and burglary 20 years in prison. Also resolved as part of the plea was an insurance fraud case, where the defendant will be sentenced on one count by Judge Young in Dover.

Deputy Attorney General David Holloway secured a guilty plea against Anthony Livesay, 48, of New Castle, in connection with a drunk driving incident. Livesay struck two vehicles in the area of Route 273 and Old Baltimore Pike on June 20, 2014, injuring the driver of one of the other cars. He pled guilty to driving under the influence for the fourth time, and first degree vehicular assault.

Sentences:

Deputy Attorney General Julie Finocchiaro secured a 30-year prison sentence against 47-year-old Joseph Slayton of Newark for first degree robbery, and first degree attempted robbery. Slayton was also declared an habitual offender. In April 2014, Slayton pushed an elderly woman to the ground in a parking lot and stole her purse, and a short time later tried to rob a nearby bank.

Deputy Attorney General Julie Finocchiaro secured a three year prison sentence for first degree robbery against Rachel Golden, 20, of Bear. Golden was sentenced for her part in the robbery of a pizza deliveryman at a Newark Apartment complex in April 2014.

Deputy Attorney General David Holloway secured a 10-year prison sentence, suspended after 4 years for 18 months of supervised probation, against Brian Taylor, 26, of Hampton, Virginia, for aggravated possession of drugs. Taylor was stopped for speeding on Route 1 on August 5, 2014, and after a search of the car, police found 257.5 grams of cocaine in the glove compartment.

Deputy Attorney General David Holloway secured a 10-year prison sentence, suspended after 10 months for 18 months of supervised probation, against Tyrone Gardner, 25, of New Castle, for drug dealing. During a traffic stop in July 2014, police found 50 bundles of heroin, along with a large amount of cash.

Attorney General Matt Denn announced today a series of initiatives the Department of Justice is undertaking to address the problem of juveniles carrying firearms. The steps include prosecution of some juveniles with serious or multiple firearm offenses as adults, ensuring that juveniles who are a danger to the public are not released back into the community immediately after they are arrested, and expanding the ability of Family Court to punish violent crime.

“Juvenile gun possession is one of the most serious threats to public safety that I have seen in my first eleven weeks in office,” Denn said. “Part of the reason is that adults have told these juveniles that there are no real consequences to carrying guns – and too often that has been true. We have to ensure that there are consequences, and that juveniles know about those consequences.”

Prosecution of Serious Juvenile Gun Offenses As Adult Crimes

The first component of the Department of Justice’s new juvenile anti-gun program involves charging decisions for juveniles. The Attorney General has begun personally reviewing each new juvenile gun offense, and has directed that some offenses which would previously have been handled as delinquency cases in Family Court be treated instead as adult cases due to their severity and/or the defendant’s history with the criminal justice system.

There are two juveniles for whom this new process has already been implemented. The first is a seventeen year old who is a member of one of Wilmington’s known youth gangs. This defendant, who has a series of adjudications dating back four years for offenses including resisting arrest, illegal possession of ammunition, and terroristic threatening, was arrested again in February of this year for multiple felony firearms offenses. With supporting testimony from the FBI and the Wilmington Police Department, the Department of Justice has asked the Family Court for permission to prosecute this defendant as an adult, and that request is currently awaiting a decision from the Family Court.

The second juvenile, age 15, led Wilmington police on a high speed chase in a stolen vehicle through the streets of Wilmington in February, and subsequently on a foot chase after he abandoned the stolen vehicle. A loaded and cocked semi-automatic weapon, which had also been stolen, was found in the vehicle, tucked between the front seat and the console. This defendant’s case has been sent automatically to Superior Court because of the Attorney General’s decision to charge him with possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

“We need juveniles in our state to understand that carrying a gun has real consequences,” Denn said. “It no longer automatically means a delinquency charge that will disappear from your record when you turn 18. Prosecuting a juvenile as an adult is a difficult decision and one that we don’t make lightly, but these gun crimes have created an intolerable condition on our streets.“

In pointing out the need for this new policy, Denn noted a recent report from the Criminal Justice Council’s Statistical Analysis Center which showed that from 2011 to 2013, thirty five percent of the juveniles arrested for shootings in the City of Wilmington already had a prior firearms arrest from a separate incident.

Ensuring that Dangerous Juveniles Are Detained After Arrest

In response to concerns expressed by a number of law enforcement professionals that juveniles who they had arrested for serious felony offenses were immediately released to the custody of their families pending trial, the Department of Justice has worked with the judiciary and the Wilmington Police Department to create a new process to ensure that prosecutors are present at bail hearings for juveniles arrested during evening and weekend hours for serious felonies.

Effective immediately, Wilmington Police Department officers who arrest juveniles on charges that constitute Class D felonies or greater during evening or weekend hours will immediately notify the Department of Justice, which will in turn ensure that a prosecutor can present evidence at the juvenile’s bail hearing (prosecutors already participate during regular business hours in bail hearings involving juveniles). This new procedure received its first use this past weekend, when one of our prosecutors was called at 3:00 a.m. Saturday to attend a bail hearing for teenager who was arrested for attempted murder in the city.

This new program mirrors a program involving adult bail hearings that has been in place for some time in the City of Wilmington, and which has shown demonstrable success in ensuring that sufficiently high bail is set for individuals who would present a threat to the community.

“We have heard from too many law enforcement officers that they arrested juveniles for serious felony charges one night, only to see them out on the same corners again a night or two later,” Denn said. “This heightened attention from our office to bail hearings will help us ensure that evidence is properly presented to magistrates and that potentially violent juveniles are kept off the streets pending trial.”

Allowing Family Court to Punish Delinquent Juveniles

Last week, Attorney General Denn noted what he considers to be a deficiency in the state’s laws governing Family Court: the Court is not permitted to consider punishment of juveniles, harm to victims, or deterrence of other juveniles in determining the sentences it imposes for even the most serious crimes.

This month, the Department of Justice will be asking the General Assembly to establish a task force to re-examine the Family Court’s governing statute, so that a group of judges, attorneys who practice in Family Court, and community members with expertise in children’s issues can discuss the possibility of amending the law in order to allow Family Court judges to consider more factors when sentencing juveniles who are adjudicated delinquent.

Legislation requires criminal history checks in connection with virtually all gun sales

(Dover, DE)  Governor Markell issued the following statement after the passage of House Bill 35 in the Delaware House of Representatives:

“Delaware is a step closer to making our citizens safer by requiring a background check on nearly every gun purchase or transfer. The litany of tragic shootings in other states and in our own state should be all the impetus we need to do more to keep guns out of the hands of people who shouldn’t have them. But this is also a common sense measure that is supported by an overwhelming 88 percent of Delawareans.  The changes that were made to the bill today show that Representative Valerie Longhurst and other legislators are listening to the concerns of the community and are willing to make reasonable accommodations. They also made clear that this bill is not about taking people’s guns or about gun registration. I appreciate and thank the legislators, law enforcement officers, and everyday Delawareans who supported HB 35.”

The bill was unveiled by the Governor during a news conference with former Congressman and Governor Mike Castle earlier this month.

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Governor Markell recently spoke about Delaware’s proposed gun safety legislation during an interview on MSNBC’s Morning Joe.

Governor Markell is asking Delawareans to join with the residents of Connecticut in observing a moment of silence on Friday at 9:30 a.m. in memory of the victims of the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.

“The people of Delaware have grieved and prayed for the people of Newtown, Conn. We have been joined in that grief by those from around the country and around the world. Governor Malloy of Connecticut has declared a day of mourning on Friday, December 21, and has asked his fellow governors to observe a moment of silence as well. So I request that Delawareans join the moment of silence at 9:30 a.m. on Friday to reflect and remember the lives that were lost so heartbreakingly, and to consider what we can do as individuals, as communities, as a state and as a country  to prevent future tragedies. I also suggest that churches or other institutions with the ability to do so toll 26 chimes in memory of the victims.”

Connecticut Gov. Malloy’s proclamation: http://governor.delaware.gov/docs/20121221dayofmourning.pdf

Mental Health Concerns, School Safety, Gun Laws

(Wilmington, DE) The Governor issued the following statement in response to troubling questions raised by the Connecticut school shooting :

As the father of two, I, like so many others around the country, have spent the last few days thinking about the issues that this awful incident raises. In homes, in businesses and in government, we are having conversations about what this means and what we need to do. What is clear is that we have a culture of violence in this country, coupled with ready access to guns, and we continue as a society to fail adolescents struggling with mental illness.  That reality is deeply concerning to me, as I know it is to others.  I see three areas of discussion taking place:

Mental Health

When skilled mental health professionals are present in the schools, they provide the best possible opportunity we have to identify young people who are in need of services and to connect those young people and their families with appropriate services.  We must work to remove more of the stigma associated with mental illness and recognize it for the disease that it is.  Access to treatment is critical, and my administration is preparing plans to expand that access, especially for children and teens.

School Safety

This year we created a new statewide protocol for comprehensive school safety plans in every public school.  Schools are now in the process, working with the Department of Safety and Homeland Security and with local emergency responders, of creating those plans.  To date, 30 schools have completed these plans and we have funded creation of school safety plans for the next 50 schools.  We need to make sure that we complete the effort to have comprehensive school safety plans completed for all schools. And it is important to recognize – and this is already inherent in the plans that are being created — that teachers and school officials are going to be the true first responders in an incident like this.

Guns Laws

In 2011, I proposed, and the General Assembly passed bills designed to strengthen enforcement around existing gun laws, including legislation to make sure Delaware does its part to keep those with disqualifying mental illnesses from obtaining guns. I am on the record as supporting  a ban on assault weapons with large magazines. As we move forward, I think and hope there are measures that reasonable gun owners can agree with — and in fact have started to voice support for in the last few days.

As we talk about access to mental health, and school safety, and access to guns, we also need to talk about family and social responsibility.  Too many kids are spending countless hours on video games and television shows and movies that glorify violence and treat human life as cheap and dispensable.  As parents, we need to exercise judgment.   As a society, we need to provide young people with other opportunities that will teach them to value themselves rather than devalue others.

These are the areas we need to discuss as a state – and in which we need to do a better a job for our citizens and our kids.