State v. Hassett, 0005011315

In 2001 Robert W. Hassett was convicted by a jury of First Degree Murder and PDWDCF; he received life without parole under Delaware law for murder and 20 years for PDWDCF.
The conviction was affirmed on appeal and became final when the Supreme Court mandate issued on June 5, 2002.
Hassett filed multiple prior Rule 61 postconviction motions (2003, 2010, 2016) and a federal habeas petition; all were denied.
In March 2017 Hassett filed a fourth Rule 61 motion arguing Sixth Amendment jury-rights and Fourteenth/Eighth Amendment sentencing defects based on the Delaware Supreme Court decisions in Rauf and Powell.
The Superior Court held the motion was time-barred under Rule 61(i)(1) and successive under Rule 61(i)(2); Rauf announced a new rule limited to death-penalty cases and thus did not render Hassett’s life sentence invalid.
The court denied Hassett’s Rule 61 motion and related motions for counsel, pauper status, and recusal.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether Hassett’s Sixth Amendment jury right and sentencing were violated under Rauf/Powell	Rauf/Powell require jury, not judge, determinations for capital sentencing; Powell made Rauf retroactive — so constitutional error affects sentencing	Rauf/Powell’s rule should apply to his case and invalidate his life sentence imposed under the capital statute	Motion is time-barred and successive; Rauf’s rule applies only to death sentences and thus does not affect Hassett’s life sentence — denied
Whether Hassett’s Fourteenth/Eighth rights were violated by sentencing scheme	Sentencing under §4209 violated due process and Eighth Amendment because judge-made findings drove the severe sentence	Same as above — new rulings should reach his case	Court rejects on procedural grounds and on the merits because the new rule does not apply to non-capital life sentences — denied

Rauf v. State, 145 A.3d 430 (Del. 2016) (Delaware Supreme Court held the capital sentencing statute violated the Sixth Amendment by allowing judge, rather than jury, to find facts necessary for death sentence)
Powell v. State, 153 A.3d 69 (Del. 2016) (Delaware Supreme Court held Rauf applies retroactively on collateral review)