Leslie Ramsey, Defendant Below, Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below, Appellee

Summary

The court held that Delaware's party-autonomy rule for lesser-included offenses applies in bench trials as well as jury trials. Because neither party expressly requested adjudication of Attempted First Degree Robbery and both may have pursued an all-or-nothing strategy, the trial court improperly convicted Ramsey of that lesser-included offense sua sponte. The conviction and sentence for Attempted First Degree Robbery were reversed, and the matter was remanded for further proceedings.