Brookens v. State, 466 A.2d 1218 (Del. 1983)

Cases | Brookens v. State, 466 A.2d 1218 (Del. 1983) | 2018

The defendant was convicted of reckless driving. The trial court imposed a $100 fine and 15% penalty assessment pursuant to Del. Code Ann. tit. 10, § 9012. The defendant claimed that the assessment was a “fine” for appeal purposes under Del. Const. Art. IV, § 28. The supreme court found a clear legislative intent that the penalty assessment provided by the statute did not represent a fine or an increase in fine otherwise imposed for purposes of determining a constitutional right of criminal appeal under Del. Const. Art. IV, § 28. The assessment operated independently of a fine and was compensatory in nature because it was designed to provide compensation to crime victims.

Distinguished by In re State, 603 A.2d 814 (Del. 1992) (holding that the Brookens ruling that an assessment was not a fine for appeal purposes did not foreclose the question of whether an assessment may be retroactively increased incident to a criminal sentence)