Convicted carjacker Harper freed - Cape Gazette

13 ruling, Delaware Supreme Court reversed Harper's conviction for his role in the 2013 carjacking and abduction of Margaret Smith, then 89. Superior Court Judge T. Henley Graves, substituting for vacationing presiding Judge Richard Stokes, on Aug. Prosecutor Melanie Withers said the state intends to file new charges of unlawful imprisonment and conspiracy against Harper. Harper's court-appointed attorney, John Brady, said if prosecutors file new charges, he would seek to have the case dismissed on double jeopardy grounds, which refers to a defendant's right not to be tried twice for the same offense. The Supreme Court agreed with Brady's argument that Harper, now 21, could not be convicted of carjacking because he was not present when Smith’s car was stolen by Junia McDonald and Jackeline Perez. Harper became involved in the crimes when McDonald, Perez and Phillip Brewer later picked him up. Prosecutors had argued that the carjacking was a continuing crime because Harper, McDonald, Brewer and Perez drove Smith’s Buick for two days with... Contrary to federal statute, which states that carjacking is a continuous crime, Justice Collins Seitz wrote Delaware statute says the carjacking is over once the victim no longer has control of the vehicle. “We conclude, based on the language and legislative history of Delaware’s carjacking statute, that the crime of carjacking is not a continuing crime, but instead is completed at the point when all the elements of the crime have been satisfied,”... Source: capegazette.villagesoup.com