Donta E. Vickers, Defendant Below-Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below-Appellee

Summary

The Court affirmed Vickers’s habitual-offender sentence, holding that his juvenile arson conviction could be counted as one of the predicate violent felonies supporting an adult life sentence. The Court reasoned that the constitutional limits on severe punishment for crimes committed by juveniles do not apply when an adult is sentenced for later adult crimes and the juvenile conviction is used only to establish recidivist status.