Christie Shipley v. State Delaware

The defendant/appellant, Christie Shipley ("Shipley"), was convicted of murder in the first degree and possession of a dangerous
weapon during the commission of a felony. The Superior Court sentenced Shipley to consecutive sentences of life imprisonment
without benefit of suspension, probation, or parole and thirty years' imprisonment without benefit of probation or parole.
The victim of the alleged crime was Shipley's husband, William Shipley, whose decomposed body parts were found in various
locations in Dover, Delaware. Shipley raises three issues on appeal. First, she contends that the trial court made a reversible error when it failed to
grant her motion to suppress statements she made during questioning, six months prior to her arrest. Defendant contends she
gave the statements to police as a result of her counsel's ineffectiveness in advising her to do so in violation of her fifth
and sixth amendment rights. Secondly, defendant contends that the State failed to establish each element of the crime charged
beyond a reasonable doubt and that it failed to prove the corpus delicti, independent of Shipley's statements. Finally, defendant
contends that the trial court committed reversible error as a matter of law and in contravention of her fifth and sixth amendment
rights by appointing a public defender to represent her when she merely requested expenditure of State funds to hire an expert
witness. Defendant contends she wanted to retain her private counsel and have the use of public funds to hire experts. We
find defendant's contentions to be without merit and affirm the judgment of the Superior Court.