Derrick Crosby, Defendant Below-Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below-Appellee

Summary

The Delaware Supreme Court affirmed Crosby’s convictions for second-degree robbery and second-degree conspiracy. It held that the Superior Court acted within its discretion by preventing defense counsel from arguing a specific unsupported scenario in which the actual accomplice passed the victim’s cell phone to Crosby before fleeing, while allowing broader arguments that another person committed the robbery and that Crosby could have obtained the phone in another way. The court emphasized that criminal defense counsel must be permitted to identify reasonable gaps and alternative scenarios in the State’s proof, but may not invent facts or argue inferences lacking a rational evidentiary basis.