James W. Riley v. State Delaware

Defendant, James W. Riley, appeals from two decisions of Superior Court, the first, dated April 29, 1988, and a second, dated
April 21, 1989, each denying defendant post-conviction relief. Defendant seeks relief from his 1982 convictions in trial by
jury in Superior Court of two counts of murder in the first degree, intentional murder and felony murder, and his sentence
to death for felony murder. In 1985, this Court, sitting en banc on Riley's direct appeal, unanimously affirmed defendant's
convictions and sentence. Riley v. State, Del. Supr., 496 A.2d 997 (1985) ("Riley I "), cert. denied, 478 U.S. 1022, 106
S. Ct. 3339, 92 L. Ed. 2d 743 (1986). Though defendant raises numerous post-conviction issues, we find none to have merit.
Accordingly, we affirm the decisions below. Defendant Riley was convicted and sentenced to death for the 1982 murder of a liquor store owner committed in the course
of an armed robbery. In his direct appeal, Riley raised, and this Court addressed, eleven issues in the guilt phase and seven
issues in the penalty phase, two raised by Riley and five raised by the amicus, The American Civil Liberties Union. In rejecting
defendant's multiple claims of error, we ruled, in part, that defendant was not denied the right to trial by an impartial
jury as a result of the State's asserted use of peremptory challenges to strike prospective black jurors for racial or impermissible
reasons. Riley I, 496 A.2d at 1009-1013.