Waters v. State

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• holding that the failure to provide definitional guidance was reversible error because the court merely read the statute and offered no definition of key terms, including differentiating “reckless” and the meaning of “cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life”
• “the words ‘cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life’ are words with a commonly accepted meaning” that is not unconstitutionally vague
• “the words ‘cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life’ are words with a commonly accepted meaning” that is not unconstitutionally vague
• held it was plain and reversible error for the Superior Court to refrain from providing the jury with a definition of “cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life”
• trial judge erred by failing to distinguish “reckless” as it relates to Murder in the Second Degree from “reckless” as it relates to Manslaughter; and to explain the meaning of the words “cruel, wicked and depraved indifference to human life.”
• describing error in jury instructions as “plain”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).

Cited by

14 cases in this archive cite this case.

• Deberry v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1983-01-27· cited 112×
• Weber v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1983-01-17· cited 94×
• Ross v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1984-09-11· cited 31×
• State Farm Fire & Casualty Co. v. Hackendorn
  Superior Court of Delaware· 1991-08-28· cited 21×
• Brown v. Commonwealth
  Kentucky Supreme Court· 1998-09-03· cited 20×
• Comer v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 2009-07-28· cited 18×
• Mills v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 2019-01-14· cited 17×
• Plass v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1983-02-04· cited 15×
• State v. Dow
  Supreme Court of New Hampshire· 1985-03-01· cited 11×
• State v. Mitchell
  Court of Appeals of Kansas· 1997-01-31· cited 10×
• Hamilton v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 2003-02-06· cited 5×
• Gregory v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 2023-03-07
• State v. Smith
  Superior Court of Delaware· 2025-06-10
• Smith v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 2026-05-27

Cites

13 cases in this archive are cited by this case.

• Furman v. Georgia
  Supreme Court· 1972-06-29· cited 5,066×
• Godfrey v. Georgia
  Supreme Court· 1980-05-19· cited 1,672×
• State v. Winsett
  Superior Court of Delaware· 1964-12-08· cited 46×
• Hunter v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1981-05-12· cited 43×
• Fuentes v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1975-11-25· cited 25×
• State v. Moyer
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1978-05-05· cited 18×
• Evans v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1981-05-12· cited 16×
• In Re State for a Writ of Mandamus
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1981-05-29· cited 11×
• Oney v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1979-01-18· cited 8×
• State v. Chaplin
  Superior Court of Delaware· 1981-02-17· cited 7×
• Hallowell v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1972-11-09· cited 7×
• Brinkley v. State
  Supreme Court of Delaware· 1967-07-27· cited 7×
• State v. Lee
  Delaware Court of Oyer and Terminer· 1933-10-10· cited 4×