Delaware
Split decision for ex-auditor: Delaware justices uphold 1 conviction, reverse another
McGuiness stands convicted of 1 of 5 original charges
Despite their differences in nuances of the law, the bottom line is that the justices have now spoken, potentially ending a two-and-a-half-year prosecutorial saga with political implications that had pitted first-term Attorney General Jennings and her office against another first-term statewide official.
Before McGuiness was charged in October 2021, political insiders had speculated that the two Democratic politicians might be candidates in the 2024 gubernatorial race to succeed Gov. John Carney, who by law can’t seek a third term. Instead, McGuiness exited the political arena the day of her sentencing, and Jennings is not seeking higher office at this time.
Unless Jennings refiles the charge of official misconduct and wins at a retrial, the end result of the unprecedented prosecution of McGuiness will be conviction on one of five counts.
McGuiness will remain convicted of misdemeanor conflict of interest over her hiring of her teenage daughter to a part-time job that continued remotely after she went to college in South Carolina.
Beyond Carpenter overturning the structuring conviction, jurors had also acquitted McGuiness of two felonies — theft and witness tampering.
Before running for auditor in 2018, McGuiness had a long career as a pharmacist, business owner and a Rehoboth Beach commissioner.
Jennings began investigating McGuiness after whistleblowers in her office contacted prosecutors in the Division of Civil Rights and Public Trust. Jennings publicly announced the October 2021 indictment on the steps of the New Castle County Courthouse in Wilmington.
The trial was eventually moved to Kent County, where a Superior Court jury found her guilty in July 2022. While awaiting sentencing she nonetheless ran for re-election, only to get trounced in the September Democratic primary.
At her October 2022 sentencing, prosecutors sought a 30-day prison sentence for McGuiness and $30,605 restitution to the state, citing her lack of remorse and other aggravating factors. Carpenter gave her a year of probation, 500 hours of community service, and a $10,000 fine.
Although she had three months remaining in her four-year term, McGuiness resigned a few hours after the sentencing. That occurred after Carney, a fellow Democrat, indicated he would exercise his constitutional duty to remove her after sentencing.
Jennings did not agree to an interview about the ruling but issued a statement that said it was a vindication of her decision to bring the public corruption case.
“After more than two years of endless litigation and theatrical rhetoric, the bottom line is that a jury, a Superior Court judge, and now the Delaware Supreme Court have all concluded that the ex-auditor’s actions were criminal,” her statement read.
Jennings added that “above all else, I am inspired by the courage of the whistleblowers who came forward to seek justice.”
While the criminal case might be over, a civil lawsuit by McGuiness against Jennings and others in her office is pending in U.S. District Court in Wilmington.
The federal lawsuit, filed in August 2023, claims her constitutional rights were violated when the chief investigator in Jennings’s office made false statements to get a search warrant for her office records. McGuiness also charge s that Jennings and then-prosecutor Mark Denney slandered her by making similar public remarks after she was indicted.
What is Delaware’s Kalmar Nyckel ship?
Here’s the history of Delaware’s Kalmar Nyckel ship explained in 36 seconds.
The Delaware history column features excerpts from The News Journal archives including The Morning News and The Evening Journal. See the archives at delawareonline.com.
100 years ago, The Evening Journal, June 21, 1926
Jealous man kills woman, wounds boy
Oliver K. Higgins, aged 33 years, of Washington Street, in a fit of jealousy late Saturday night, is alleged to have pumped seven bullets from an automatic revolver into Mrs. Edna M. Martin, 40 years old, of Spruce Street, killing her.
Charles Brown, the 15-year-old of Mrs. Gladys Brown, was shot in the jaw and shoulder by Higgins but will recover. Mrs. Brown, also of the Spruce Street address, is the sister of the slain woman. …
Mrs. Martin, who was employed by the Home Baking Company on Market Street, left the store at a late hour Saturday night, accompanied by Paul A. Crawford of Marshallton and went home. They found Mrs. Brown sitting in the dining room with Julius K. Bowman of Newport.
The women and men sat around the table for a short time. At 11:45 o’clock, hearing someone taking out a window screen in the parlor, Mrs. Brown went to the hall to see what caused the noise.
She saw Higgins step in the window with a gun in his hand. She opened the door and ran off the porch.
Higgins failed to see Mrs. Brown and continued to the dining room where Mrs. Martin and the two men were sitting. He leveled the revolver at their heads and said, “Stick your hands up everybody, and I don’t mean maybe.”
Higgins then asked for Mrs. Brown. Learning she had gone out the front door, he ran after her, passing her as she crouched behind a hedge a few feet from the doorway. He returned to the dining room, but the men had fled. He then turned to Mrs. Martin and fired as she ran. …
Leaving the dead woman at the head of the steps, Higgins rushed in the back room in search of Mrs. Brown. Charles Brown, who had been sleeping, awoke because of the noise. …
Hearing the boy going down the stairs, Higgins stepped to the stair rail and shot him twice. …
Mrs. Brown went to the drug store of Otto H. Miller at 22nd and Pine streets to telephone police. …
Officers surrounded the Brown house … and arrested Higgins. …
Higgins met Mrs. Brown several months ago when he was in the employ of the United Cigar Store, and Mrs. Brown was working nearby. He is said to have become jealous over the attention of other men to Mrs. Brown, who is divorced. She asked him to stop annoying her and appealed to police.
After Higgins threatened Mrs. Brown with a gun, she told her employer who called the United Cigar Company and made a complaint to the manager. Shortly after this, Higgins was discharged.
50 years ago, The Morning News, June 23, 1976
Bill would jail parents of delinquent kids
A tough measure that provides for jailing the parents of delinquent children or requiring them to spend weekends with delinquents at juvenile detention centers has been introduced in the Delaware Senate.
The bill is the brainchild of the community-based services staff of the juvenile corrections bureau.
“This gives a way to coax them (the parents),” said John J. Mulvena, juvenile corrections chief. “If not to coax them, to require them. If not require them, jail them.”
The bill is sponsored by Sen. Herman Holloway Sr., D-Wilmington.
Mulvena said it is “directed at parents who are reluctant to participate in the responsible supervision of their children.”
He said due to “stubbornness, ignorance or neglect,” his staff often ends up acting as “mother, father, aunt, uncle or surrogate” for children “while the parents get off scot-free.”
20 years ago, The News Journal, June 26, 2006
Storms wallop Sussex with 6-8 inches of rain
Jack English knew he was in trouble early Sunday morning.
He kept waking up to the sound of his Seaford basement sump pump trying to keep up with the downpour outside….
At first, he found a few inches of water on his basement floor. Then, all of a sudden, his backyard was completely flooded and the rising water blew out his basement window. …
“I was evacuated by the fire department,” he said. …
In six to eight hours, 7 inches fell in Bridgeville, more than 8 inches in Georgetown and nearly 6 inches in Laurel….
The Seaford Fire Company had its first sign of trouble at 7:30 a.m., when a crew responded to a person trapped in a car by rising water. As the morning went on, rescue crews turned to boats.
An estimated 300 people were evacuated from homes at three mobile home parks southeast of Blades.
Meanwhile, in Seaford, concern grew as water levels rose in the Nanticoke River and Williams Pond. As a precaution, 110 residents of Lifecare at Lofland Park rehabilitation center were evacuated to Nanticoke Memorial Hospital. …
At the Seaford Walmart, a team of swift water rescuers from Salisbury, Maryland helped people trapped in the parking lot, with water up to the top of some cars. …
Bridges at Craigs Mill Road and Woodland Road washed out. …
The American Red Cross opened a shelter at Woodbridge High School in Bridgeville. About 30 people were staying there Sunday night.
Reach reporter Ben Mace at rmace@gannett.com.
DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — All lanes closed on I-69 in the southbound direction in Delaware County on Friday morning.
Authorities with the Indiana State Police were dispatched to the 240.5 mile marker on a report of a crash involving a semi at approximately 8:08 a.m.
All lanes are now open.
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