Johnson v. State

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE RAYSHAUN JOHNSON, §

§ No. 555, 2018 Defendant Below, §

Appellant, § Court Below: Superior Court § of the State of Delaware v. §

§ Cr. ID: N1503017603 STATE OF DELAWARE, §

§

Plaintiff Below, §

Appellee. §

Submitted: August 21, 2019 Decided: September 3, 2019 Before VAUGHN, SEITZ, and TRAYNOR, Justices.

ORDER

This 3rd day of September, 2019, after careful consideration of the parties’ briefs and the record on appeal, it appears to the Court that the judgment of the Superior Court should be affirmed on the basis of and for the reasons stated in its February 15, 2017 bench ruling denying Rayshaun E. Johnson’s motion for judgment of acquittal on the charge of conspiracy to commit murder. Johnson cites Washington v. State1 in support of his case, but Washington is inapposite. In Washington, we reversed the denial of a motion for acquittal because the only evidence of the defendant’s participation in an armed robbery and related conspiracy was the uncorroborated testimony of a co-conspirator—testimony that was flatly contradicted by the robbery victim. Here, however, the State introduced substantial other evidence probative of Johnson’s participation in the conspiracy.2 Put simply, the Superior Court correctly denied Johnson’s motion for judgment of acquittal.

NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS ORDERED that the judgment of the Superior Court is AFFIRMED.

BY THE COURT:

/s/ Gary F. Traynor Justice