Supreme Court of Delaware
Durham v. State
November 13, 2017
Summary
The Supreme Court of Delaware affirmed the summary dismissal of Durham’s second motion for postconviction relief. It held that the version of Rule 61 in effect when Durham filed his 2017 motion governed, requiring him to satisfy the heightened pleading requirements for successive motions regardless of whether he previously could have raised ineffective-assistance claims concerning postconviction counsel. The court further held that those procedural requirements had to be addressed before reaching the merits.