BEFORE CHARGES ARE FILED
Who Files the Charges.
Student victim of Assault III. In cases in which a
child is the victim of an Assault III in school, and the alleged
offender is another student, it must be reported to the police.
The police will investigate, and if probable cause exists, they
will usually give the police report to the parent of the victim,
so that parent may choose whether to file charges. The police
may choose to file the charges themselves. The principal is
still responsible for initially reporting the Assault III to the
police, but not for filing charges.
School Employee - Victim. In cases in which a school
employee is the victim, once the police determine that probable
cause exists, the police may choose to file the charges, but the
principal must file the charges unless the police do
so, or unless the Attorney General's Office has determined that
charges should not be filed.
School Employee - Offender. In all cases in which the
alleged offender is a school employee, the police must notify
the Attorney General's Office before filing charges. The police
should file these charges if the Attorney General's Office
decides that charges are appropriate.
Student Anonymity
When questioning students who may have witnessed a crime,
Principals should be cautious about promising anonymity.
Students may be told that all efforts will be made to keep their
name out of it, unless absolutely necessary to prove a criminal
charge. However, if criminal charges are placed, their
identities will be subject to disclosure to the police, and
Attorney General's Office, and they may have to be called to
testify.
ONCE CHARGES HAVE BEEN FILED
Dropping Charges
Once charges have been filed, no school employee or school
district official has the power to drop the charges, or make any
deals with the defendant or defendant's parents in exchange for
dropping charges. Once a charge has been filed, only the
Attorney General's Office can drop the charges. In addition,
school employees or school district officials may not promise
not to report charges that are required to be reported under the
school crime reporting law.
School Secretary
When the school secretary receives a subpoena, he/she should
give it to the person to whom it is addressed immediately. It is
especially important that envelopes with a Family Court return
address should not be placed in the employee's box during summer
months or vacations, but should be forwarded immediately to that
employee's home address. Likewise, if an employee has moved to
another school, the letter should be forwarded to that school.
For School Employees Who are Subpoenaed as Witnesses or
Victims:
Directions to New Family Court House.
Family court is now located at 5th and King Streets. Directions
are as follows:
Take I95 to Delaware Avenue exit, proceed on Delaware Avenue
South, go right on King Street. Courthouse will be on your left
between 4th and 5th Street on King Street. Parking Garage is on
site.
Arraignment. The first step will be an
arraignment. Victims and witnesses are not required
to be present for the arraignment. At the arraignment the
defendant will plea guilty or not guilty. He/She will be given
an opportunity to take a plea. If He/She chooses not to discuss
a plea with a prosecutor or not to take the plea, then the case
will be set for trial or case review on another day. If a plea
is entered, then the case will be over. If you have a
recommendation for the plea conditions, please e-mail Rhonda
Denny at rhonda.denny@state.de.us.
Please be sure to include the name of the defendant and the date
the case is scheduled for arraignment in your e-mail.
Case Review. All felony charges will be
scheduled for case review. Victims and witnesses do not have to
be present at case review. It is an opportunity for the
attorneys to discuss the case. However, a plea may be offered at
this time, so if you receive notice of a case review, please
e-mail Rhonda Denny by State e-mail at Rhonda.Denny@state.de.us,
or call 577-8500. Please be sure to include the name of the
defendant, the date of the case review, and any recommendation
you have, or information as to the defendant's behavior that you
think is important for the State to know. If you need
restitution for out of pocket medical expenses or damaged or
stolen property, this should also be indicated.
Trial. If you receive notice of a trial, please
check to be sure that it is scheduled for a Wednesday afternoon
at 12:00. This is known as the school calendar. On Wednesdays at
12:00 there could be as many as 30 school related trials
scheduled in Family Court. School employees may be placed
on-call by calling Katrina Griffin at 255-0112. Please leave
your name, the defendant's name, date of trial, case #, and a
number or numbers where you can be reached between the hours of
12 and 4 on the date of the trial. Please remember that the
court house is now at 5th and King St. and learn how to get
there, before the date of trial. Also, if you will need a
substitute please plan ahead, since the Court allows only 30
minutes for you to arrive from the time that we call you. If
you do not call Katrina to place yourself on call then we will
expect you to be present at the Court at 12:00. Please
bring along something to read, as you may have to wait for
several hours.
Standby
On-call means that we will call you if the defendant refuses the
plea and wants a trial. It does not mean that you can testify by
telephone. If there is a trial, you must arrive in person within
30 minutes after being called, or the Court will dismiss the
case.
If the case is scheduled for any time other than Wednesday at
12:00, then you will be expected to be present the entire time,
and will not be placed on call. If you want the date changed to
the school calendar, we can make a request for a continuance,
which may or may not be granted. The sooner you let us know, the
better.
If you cannot be present at trial.
If you cannot be present at the trial, due to illness or if you
will be out of the state, please let Katrina (255-0112) know as
soon as possible so that she may ask for a continuance in the
case. Normally we will ask that it be left on for Case Review
only. Please leave specific information as to why you are needed
in the case, and why you cannot attend so that we can put that
information in the continuance request. Also, please e-mail
Rhonda Denny at rhonda.denny@state.de.us
or call 577-8500 to let her know any information you think is
relevant to a plea offer.
Plea Offers. It is customary for a plea to be
offered in every case, even if the plea is to the original
charge. When the State offers a plea, we may want to offer to
let the defendant plea to a lesser included charge. We also make
recommendations as to the sentence, including what level of
supervision the defendant is placed on. Other conditions
commonly requested follow:
no contact with the victim out of school, no unlawful contact in
school
zero tolerance on unexcused absences or cutting class
restitution to the victim to be determined by VOMP (Victim
Offender Mediation Program)
random drug screens
curfew of court or parents
community service
anger management
undergo a psychological evaluation and follow recommendations
take medication as prescribed
undergo a drug/alcohol evaluation and follow recommendations
If you wish to give an opinion as to the sentencing or have
other pertinent information please e-mail Rhonda Denny at rhonda.denny@state.de.us
The Court has certain guidelines with regard to sentencing and
one of the aggravating circumstances that they specifically want
to know about is whether the defendant has had a "lack of
attendance or participation in educational programs."
Please let us know if this applies.
Levels of Probation: Every plea includes an
indefinite commitment to Level V, which means that the child can
be held at a detention facility (locked up) until he/she is 18.
However, in most cases this sentence will be suspended for some
level of probation. A Level IV placement means a residential
treatment program. Level III involves reporting to probation
once a week Level II involves reporting to probation once every
three weeks, and Level I will mean that the parents or guardians
of the juvenile will act as his/her probation officer. Aftercare
was originally created for juveniles to be on a high level of
supervision by probation after serving time at Level V. However,
it is also available for juveniles who have not yet served time
at Level V, and is one step away from detention.
Back on Track. When a child is placed on Level
II probation, they may be eligible for Back on Track. This
program offered by the YMCA Resource Center, consists of 4
different classes, one night a week, for 2 = hours. Role play
is used with a group of juveniles to address anger management
and other issues. Afterwards, 4 hours of community service are
performed as a group on Saturdays. For more information, you may
access the YMCA Resource Center website at www.ymcade.org.
When the Y of Delaware website comes on the screen, choose the
Resource Center.
School Diversion
Students who commit a first time misdemeanor offense at school
may be offered the opportunity of participating in a diversion
program. This is especially appropriate for young offenders. In
order to enter the program, the offender must admit to
committing the offense and the Court must order them into the
program. The offender then reports to the program (either with
Kristen Blanchard at SODAT or DE Center for Justice) with
his/her parents, where he/she will be given an assignment. After
completing this assignment, he/she will be given time to
complete the assignment and then may return for several meetings
to discuss the assignment and be sure he/she has learned from
the behavior. If the offender successfully completes the
program, then the record will not show a conviction in the case,
but a dismissal. This protects first time offenders from getting
a record, but also teaches them how to obey the law in the
future.
If you are the victim of a school offense, and you wish for the
student offender to be placed in the School Diversion Program,
please e-mail Rhonda Denny at rhonda.denny@state.de.us
or call her at 577-8500 prior to the date of trial. Please leave
a number where you can be reached for verification as well.
Remember, a student may be placed in this program only if the
Attorney General's office determines that it is appropriate, and
we need your input.
If you wish to have input once the child has been assigned to
school diversion you can reach Kristen Blanchard at Kblanchard@sodatdelaware.com
or 656-4044 (SODAT) or the DE Center for Justice at 658-7273.
Before entering the program, all students sign a release that
allows the exchange of information between the school and the
program.
Jurisdiction
If a defendant is 18 or older, the alleged crime is a
misdemeanor and the victim is not a juvenile or a family member,
then the case will be heard in Court of Common Pleas, not Family
Court. For instance, all disorderly conduct cases involving a
defendant over 18 will be heard in Court of Common Pleas.
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THIS WEBSITE IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE A GENERAL OVERVIEW OF ISSUES RELATED TO SCHOOL LAW
general overview of issues related to school law
* The information contained on this website is intended to provide a general overview of issues related to school law. While the
Attorney General's Office has made every effort to ensure that the material included reflects the Delaware law as of August 1, 2002, it
should be noted that the information is subject to constant change. Although the information presented strives for accuracy, it should
not be taken as legal advice. School administrators should consult their school district's attorney or Deputy Attorney General for
guidance on specific questions or cases.
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