JACOBS, Justice: I. INTRODUCTION This is an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Chancery in an action to appoint a receiver for Krafft-Murphy Company, Inc. (the "Corporation"), a dissolved Delaware corporation, under 8 Del. C. 279. The Petitioners-Below/Appellants, who are tort claimants in lawsuits pending against the Corporation in other jurisdictions, seek the appointment of a receiver to enable them lawfully to pursue those claims against the Corporation in those other courts. The...
JACOBS, Justice: This is an appeal from a final judgment of the Superior Court in favor of the defendants. In this action, the Plaintiff-Appellants assert various tort claims against Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. ("AMD"). AMD moved to exclude certain expert testimony under Delaware Rule of Evidence 702 — a motion that the Superior Court granted after determining that the evidence was not relevant. Plaintiff-Appellants timely appealed to this Court, which remanded the case to the Superior Court...
JACOBS, Justice: This case involves a dispute between two developers over the payment of property assessments allegedly due under certain restrictive covenants. The plaintiff-below, The Reserves Management, LLC ("Reserves"), appeals from two Superior Court rulings granting summary judgment in favor of the defendants-below, R.T. Properties, LLC, Mountain Range, LLC, Fountain, LLC, Waterscape, LLC, and Wind Chop, LLC. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand for further proceedings. FACTS...
STEELE, Chief Justice. In this appeal of a denial of a postconviction relief motion, we consider whether trial and appellate counsel were ineffective during their representation of the defendant, stemming from a series of robberies on New Year's Eve 2008. The defendant argues that his trial and appellate counsel were ineffective for failing to request at trial, and for failing to argue on direct appeal: (1) the inclusion of a Bland instruction in connection with certain accomplice testimony;...
JACOBS , Justice : Pending before this Court is an appeal from an order of the Delaware Court of Chancery dismissing a complaint. The plaintiff below, appellant, Quadrant Structured Products Company, Inc. ("Quadrant"), holds certain Notes issued by Athilon Capital Corp. ("Athilon"), an allegedly insolvent Delaware corporation. The Notes are long term obligations covered by two separate trust indentures that are governed by New York law. The defendants-below are EBF & Associates, LP ("EBF"),...
JACOBS, Justice: Gordon Levey, the plaintiff-below ("Levey"), appeals from a Court of Chancery order granting summary judgment and dismissing his action on the ground of laches by analogy to the statute of limitations. Levey claims that the Court of Chancery erred as a matter of law on both substantive and procedural grounds. We find that the specific claims actually advanced by Levey lack merit. Nonetheless, our independent review discloses that the judgment must be reversed, and the case...
STEELE, Chief Justice: This appeal addresses the State's obligation to produce relevant material in response to a defendant's discovery request. A Superior Court jury convicted the defendant of Failing to Stop at the Command of a Police Officer, Reckless Driving, and several other offenses. The State failed to produce a recording of the officers' communications with the dispatcher in response to the defendant's discovery request. This recording contained evidence that the officers' siren had...
STEELE , Chief Justice : In this action, a group of Texas plaintiffs allege that a corporation exposed two employees to chemicals that caused two of the employees' children to suffer from birth defects. On appeal, the plaintiffs challenge a Superior Court judge's application of Texas substantive law and the resulting exclusion of expert testimony. Under Delaware law, which incorporates the United States Supreme Court's holding in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 1 admissible...
STEELE, Chief Justice: This case addresses the scope of insurance coverage under Delaware's personal injury protection (PIP) statute. 1 A plaintiff who was injured in an accident sought PIP benefits from an insurance carrier. To determine whether the plaintiff was entitled to PIP benefits, a Superior Court judge applied Delaware's current three-part test and analyzed: (1) "whether the vehicle was an `active accessory' in causing the injury," (2) "whether there was an act of independent...
STEELE, Chief Justice: This is an appeal from the Court of Chancery's dismissal of a class action complaint challenging the merger of a limited partnership with its general partner's controller. The plaintiff limited partner's complaint alleges that the general partner, its controller, and its directors took actions during and preceding the merger negotiations that breached the contractual duties the limited partnership agreement imposed. The limited partnership agreement replaces common law...
STEELE, Chief Justice: In this interlocutory appeal, we hold that the Superior Court judge erred when he found that a state agency complied with Delaware's Real Property Acquisition Act before it moved to condemn property. Where a state agency bases its initial offer to purchase property on an appraisal that contains flawed assumptions about the property's post-taking use, that agency cannot reasonably believe that it offered just compensation. The statute requires a state agency to make an...
STEELE, Chief Justice. In this personal injury action, a Superior Court judge sua sponte excluded a medical expert witness's testimony that it was possible that the plaintiff's permanent injury might improve depending on the results of further recommended testing. After the jury awarded the plaintiff $292,330, the defendant moved for a new trial. The trial judge granted the motion because he concluded that while medical experts must offer opinions with a reasonable degree of medical...
JACOBS, Justice: INTRODUCTION In a so-called "efficient breach," a tenant terminated a commercial lease before the end of the lease term. The lease agreement did not contain an acceleration clause. Before the lease term expired, the landlord brought a Superior Court action to recover the entire unpaid rent for the balance of the lease period. We hold that, although the tenant breached the lease, the court erred by not considering that the lease had no acceleration clause. As a consequence,...
JACOBS, Justice: I. INTRODUCTION The plaintiff, Joel A. Gerber, held limited partnership units ("LP units") of Enterprise GP Holdings, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership ("EPE"). Gerber brought this action in the Court of Chancery on behalf of two classes of former public holders of LP units of EPE. On behalf of the first class ("Class I"), Gerber challenged the sale by EPE in 2009 of Texas Eastern Products Pipeline Company, LLC ("Teppco GP") to Enterprise Products Partners, L.P. ("...
STEELE, Chief Justice: A Delaware corporation appeals from the Vice Chancellor's finding that it breached a contractual obligation to negotiate in good faith and is liable under the doctrine of promissory estoppel. We reaffirm that where parties agree to negotiate in good faith in accordance with a term sheet, that obligation to negotiate in good faith is enforceable. Where a trial judge makes a factual finding, supported by the record, that the parties would have reached an agreement but...
STEELE, Chief Justice: In this reformation action concerning cash flow distributions in three real estate joint venture agreements, we hold that the Vice Chancellor properly reformed the agreements on the basis of unilateral mistake and knowing silence by the other party. Negligence in discovering an alleged mistake does not bar a reformation claim unless the negligence is so significant that it amounts to a failure to act in good faith and in accordance with reasonable standards of fair...
STEELE, Chief Justice: In this appeal from a manslaughter conviction, we consider whether a trial judge improperly commented on the evidence when he instructed the jury and whether a defendant is entitled to a justification jury instruction for a crime that requires a reckless mental state. We reaffirm that jury instructions must be construed as a whole to determine whether a trial judge commented on the evidence and conclude that the trial judge's statements were proper. Next, we hold that 11...
JACOBS, Justice. In 2006, a German bank organized two affiliated entities under Delaware law. One of those entities sold a class of securities — Trust Preferred Securities — to investors as part of the bank's effort to raise capital. In 2009, the bank acquired a second German bank by merger, whereby the bank assumed an obligation of the acquired bank to make certain payments with respect to a class of the acquired bank's securities. Post-merger, the bank made those payments in 2009 and 2010....
RIDGELY, Justice: Plaintiff-Below/Appellant, the State of Delaware, appeals from a Superior Court order granting a motion to suppress by the Defendants-Below/Appellees Michael Holden and Lauren Lusby (collectively, "Holden") on grounds that the search warrant affidavit approved by the magistrate failed to establish probable cause. We hold that the magistrate had a substantial basis to conclude that probable cause existed to search Holden's home for contraband or evidence of a crime....
STEELE, Chief Justice. In this appeal, we consider whether a Superior Court judge abused his discretion when he granted defense counsel an overnight continuance to review an additional set of laboratory reports the State's chemist produced while testifying on cross examination. We agree with the Superior Court judge's ruling that the State failed to comply with Superior Court Criminal Rule 16. However, we hold the trial judge abused his discretion by granting defense counsel a continuance for...
