Phillip Rossi, Defendant Below-Appellant v. State of Delaware, Plaintiff Below-Appellee

Summary

The court held that a probation revocation based on alleged criminal conduct requires competent, admissible evidence both that a crime occurred and that the probationer was linked to it. Rossi's admission that he was present at the store linked him to the alleged conduct, but the State offered no competent evidence that a theft occurred; the remaining evidence was inadmissible hearsay or otherwise barred. The court therefore reversed and remanded for a new violation-of-probation hearing.