Higgin v. State, 341, 2017

Appellant Deon Higgin was convicted of Possession of a Firearm by a Person Prohibited and originally sentenced in Dec. 2016 to three years mandatory imprisonment; this Court previously affirmed the conviction but remanded for resentencing.
On Aug. 11, 2017 the Superior Court resentenced Higgin to three years at Level V imprisonment, followed by six months at Level II probation.
Higgin appealed the resentencing; his appellate counsel filed a Rule 26(c) brief and moved to withdraw, stating no arguably appealable issues after reviewing the record.
Higgin submitted a supplemental pro se claim that trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress.
The State moved to affirm the Superior Court’s judgment; the Court reviewed the record and counsel’s Rule 26(c) submission.
The Court declined to consider the ineffective-assistance claim on direct appeal because it was not raised or decided in the trial court and said such claims should be presented in postconviction proceedings.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether trial counsel was ineffective for failing to file a motion to suppress	Higgin: counsel was ineffective for not filing a suppression motion	State: issue was not raised below and is outside scope of direct appeal	Court: refused to consider ineffectiveness on direct appeal; claim must be raised in postconviction relief
Whether there are any arguably appealable issues warranting counsel to continue	Counsel: after review, no arguable issues	State: moved to affirm the Superior Court	Court: agreed appeal is wholly without merit; granted motion to affirm

Anders v. California, 386 U.S. 738 (U.S. 1967) (procedure for appointed counsel to withdraw when appeal is frivolous)
Penson v. Ohio, 488 U.S. 75 (U.S. 1988) (appellate review requirements when counsel seeks to withdraw)
McCoy v. Court of Appeals of Wisconsin, 486 U.S. 429 (U.S. 1988) (appellate court’s independent review when counsel finds appeal frivolous)
Desmond v. State, 654 A.2d 821 (Del. 1994) (ineffective-assistance claims not considered on direct appeal if not decided by trial court)