Delaware Supreme Court hears case for freed death row inmate

The Delaware Supreme Court must decide whether the videotaped interview of Jermaine Wright confessing to the 1991 murder of Phillip Seifert, a disabled liquor store clerk, should be allowed at his retrial.

The decision and the trial could either lead to the 43-year-old being put back behind bars or to the state’s case against him unraveling.

Wright – once Delaware’s longest serving inmate on death row – is currently free and sat silently in the front row of a Dover courtroom Wednesday as his lawyer argued that nearly two decades ago he was not properly read his rights and was highly suggestible when he confessed.

The confession was the heart of the state’s case against Wright and helped secure his death sentence.

Prosecutors were forced earlier this year to let Wright go free while they appeal a judge’s decision to suppress the videotaped confession.

Five justices heard arguments for the state’s appeal Wednesday and will issue a written ruling at a later date.

Deputy Attorney General Elizabeth McFarland told the court that Superior Court Judge John A. Parkins Jr. abused his discretion by suppressing the confession. She asked for a new judge to be assigned to the retrial.

Wright’s attorney, Allison Mielke, responded by defending Parkins’ ruling, saying he correctly recognized that Wright told police what they wanted to hear because he was not properly read the Miranda warning, was withdrawing from heroin, and was interrogated for 13 hours while handcuffed to a desk.

She said he was incorrectly told: “You have the right, right now, at any time, to have an attorney present with you, if you so desire. Can’t afford to hire one, if the state feels that you’re diligent and needs one, they’ll appoint one for you.”

Seifert, 66, was shot three times – once in the neck and twice in the head – during a robbery of the former Hi-Way Inn on Governor Printz Boulevard on Jan. 14, 1991. The robber took $30 from the cash register.

There were no eyewitnesses and no physical evidence from the murder, but an anonymous tip led police to Wright. Police did not have probable cause to charge him so they arrested him as a suspect in two unrelated crimes.

While being interviewed by police at the Wilmington Police headquarters, he confessed on camera to the Hi-Way Inn murder.

The state used the videotape to convince a jury to convict Wright in 1992. Since then, Wright has filed multiple appeals and post-conviction to avoid the death penalty.

The Supreme Court overturned the conviction and ordered a retrial last year on the grounds that the prosecutor withheld evidence in 1991 about a second robbery at Brandywine Village Liquors the same night as the murder.

In anticipation of the retrial, Wright’s attorneys filed a motion to suppress the videotaped confession.

Prosecutors, meanwhile, sought to have Parkins recuse himself from the hearing. Parkins refused to do so and suppressed the confession.

McFarland argued Wednesday that suppressing the confession goes against prior court decisions.

“Your basic point is enough is enough?” Chief Justice Leo E. Strine Jr. asked.

“Correct,” McFarland said. “It is the state’s position that the facts as found should stand because there has been no new evidence to the contrary.”

But, Mielke said that even if the suppression argument has already been raised and decided, the confession should be suppressed in the interest of justice.

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Wright was acting bizarre during the interrogation, including at one point eating paper and lying in a fetal position under the desk.

“He displayed concerning paranoia,” she said.

Mielke and Wright would not comment following Wednesday’s court hearing.

Contact Jessica Masulli Reyes at (302) 324-2777, jmreyes@delawareonline.com or Twitter @jessicamasulli.