Before CHRISTIE, Chief Justice, and WALSH and HOLLAND; HOLLAND
Charles Kevin KELLY, Defendant Below Appellant
v.
STATE of Delaware, Plaintiff Below Appellee.
Submitted: Sept. 10, 1987.
Decided: Sept. 15, 1987.
Superior Court, New Castle County.
DISMISSED.
Before CHRISTIE, Chief Justice, and WALSH and HOLLAND, Justices.
ORDER
HOLLAND, Justice.
This 15th day of September, 1987, it appears to the Court as follows:
(1) The State has filed a motion in this Court pursuant to Supreme Court Rule 29(b) to dismiss this matter because it is an appeal from an interlocutory order in a criminal case.
(2) The appellant, Charles Kevin Kelly, was convicted on the charges of first degree murder, first degree conspiracy, and possession of a deadly weapon during the commission of a felony, following a jury trial in the Superior Court in and for New Castle County. The appellant has not been sentenced.
(3) An evidentiary hearing on the appellant's motion for a new trial was held by the Superior Court on August 17-18, 1987. The notice of appeal in this case recites that the appeal is taken from "Orders and Rulings of the Superior Court of the State of Delaware, in and for New Castle County, in Criminal Action IN-85-10-1671 thru -1673 including, but not limited to Orders and Rulings of the Honorable William B. Chandler, III on August 18, 1987."
(4) This Court's general jurisdiction to review Superior Court proceedings in criminal cases is conferred by Article IV, Section 11 of the Delaware Constitution. This appellate jurisdiction is limited to cases in which a sentence of specified severity has been pronounced, i.e., final judgments. Norman v. State, Del.Supr., 177 A.2d 347, 349 (1962). This Court has no jurisdiction to hear an interlocutory appeal in a criminal case as contrasted with civil causes in which appeals from interlocutory judgments are expressly authorized by the Delaware Constitution. Hodsdon v. Superior Court, Del. Supr., 239 A.2d 222, 224-25 (1968); Rash v. State, Del.Supr., 318 A.2d 603, 604 (1974).
(5) Since the jurisdiction of this Court over criminal appeals can be invoked only after the imposition of a sentence pursuant to a conviction, and since there has been no sentence imposed upon the appellant, we are without jurisdiction to review the interlocutory rulings of the Superior Court at this time.
NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that this appeal is DISMISSED.