Case Title: State v. Sanders

Citation: 209 Kan. 231, 495 P.2d 1023

Docket Number: 46,575

State: kansas

Court: Kansas Supreme Court

Date: 1972-04-08T00:00:00Z

Document:
209 Kan. 231 (1972)
495 P.2d 1023
STATE OF KANSAS, Appellee,
v.
FRANCIS SANDERS, Appellant.
No. 46,575

Supreme Court of Kansas.
Opinion filed April 8, 1972.
Philip L. Sieve, of Kansas City, argued the cause and was on the brief for the appellant.
Nick A. Tomasic, Chief Deputy County Attorney, argued the cause, and Vern Miller, Attorney General, and Frank D. Menghini, County Attorney, were with him on the brief for the appellee.
The opinion of the court was delivered by
OWSLEY, J.:
The defendant appeals from an order of the trial court overruling his motion for a discharge and from a judgment and sentence in a criminal action.
After a preliminary hearing, defendant was bound over to district court in Wyandotte County and on September 15, 1970, was arraigned in the Wyandotte County District Court to a charge of armed robbery, at which time he plead not guilty. The incident from which the charge arose occurred on July 19, 1970. The new criminal code (K.S.A. 1971 Supp. 22-2101, et seq.) became effective on July 1, 1970; hence, there is no question that the new criminal code controls the issue in this case. The defendant was tried to a jury on January 20, 1971, and on January 22, 1971, was found guilty and sentenced.
Prior to the calling of the jury on January 20, 1971, counsel for the defendant moved the court for a discharge of the defendant and said:
In addition to the requirement of Section 10 of the Bills of Rights of the Kansas Constitution that an accused shall be allowed a speedy trial, K.S.A. 1971 Supp. 22-3402 (effective July 1, 1970) provides:
"(a) The defendant is incompetent to stand trial;
It is apparent that the purpose of this statute is to implement the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial. It should also be noted that the period of time in which to bring an accused to trial has been shortened and the period of time is expressed in days after arraignment rather than court terms after the filing of the information or indictment as provided in prior statutes. See K.S.A. 62-1301, 62-1431, 62-1432, and 62-1433 (repealed L. 1970, Ch. 129).
The defendant had been held in jail since his arrest and the State did not bring him to trial within the ninety days after his arraignment, the ninety days expiring on December 15, 1970. In order to avoid the mandate of the statute the State seeks to excuse the delay under the proviso "unless the delay shall happen as a result of the application or fault of the defendant or a continuance shall be ordered by the court under subsection (3)."
The record fails to disclose any order of the court continuing the trial of the defendant until December 28, 1970, some thirteen days after the ninety-day period had elapsed. In view of this, the State must rely on and claim the delay was a "result of the application or fault of the defendant."
The State argues the case was set for trial on two occasions within the ninety-day period and the failure to bring the defendant to trial did not result from any failure to act on the part of the State. The State also claims the delay was the fault of the defendant because he failed to request a trial within the ninety-day period. Each of these arguments has been considered and denied by the decisions of this court.
It was said in In re Trull, 133 Kan. 165, 298 Pac. 775:
In State v. Goetz, 187 Kan. 117, 353 P.2d 816, we said:
In State v. Williams, 187 Kan. 629, 360 P.2d 11, we said:
In State v. Ingram, 199 Kan. 16, 427 P.2d 500, and in In re Garner, 134 Kan. 410, 5 P.2d 821, we refused to discharge a defendant and gave significance to the failure of the defendant to request a trial, along with other facts. The obligation to bring a defendant to trial within the time provided by statute is on the State, and the defendant is not required to take any affirmative action. (State v. Williams, supra.) We disapprove any statements we made in Ingram and Garner that a defendant charged with a crime must request a trial before he is entitled to his constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial.
The State claims the defendant admitted a continuance was granted as a result of action of his counsel, and quotes a statement of defendant made immediately prior to the trial on January 20, 1971. The defendant said:
The record discloses this statement was made to defendant's counsel. Since the court's docket discloses no request by defendant's counsel for a continuance, the statement had to be based on what counsel told the defendant. Regardless of defendant's understanding, and regardless of whether or not defendant correctly recalled counsel's words, we find the record of the proceedings is controlling.
It follows that defendant should be discharged in accordance with the directions of K.S.A. 1971 Supp. 22-3402.
Reversed.
*235 KAUL, J., (dissenting):
I agree with the court's disposition of the state's claim that the delay was caused by defendant's failure to request a trial within the statutory ninety-day period. However, this does not fully resolve the question whether the delay in bringing defendant to trial was contributed to or caused by the fault of defendant.
The record discloses that following the arguments of counsel on defendant's motion for discharge, prior to trial on January 20, 1971, the trial court ruled as follows:
Defendant's counsel at this point was Mr. Daniel B. Denk who had been appointed counsel for defendant following a second pretrial conference on November 2, 1970, which was called at the instigation of defendant since he and his previously retained counsel had apparently had a parting of the ways. As a result defendant's trial, which had been set for the week of November 16, 1970, was continued.
While the trial court fails to state with any specificity the reason for overruling defendant's motion for discharge on January 20, 1971, the tenor of the court's ruling indicates the reason to have been a finding by the court that the delay was caused by fault of the defendant as provided in paragraph (1) of K.S.A. 1971 Supp. 22-3402.
The posture of the case as it is presented on appeal requires this court to construe the trial court's ruling to be other than a finding of fault on defendant's part or to reject the trial court's finding and make its own finding on appeal that the delay was not caused by the fault of defendant.
Due to the state of this record I would remand the case with directions that the trial court explicitly determine whether the delay was caused by the fault of defendant, stating the facts upon which such finding is based or in the alternative discharge the defendant.
FONTRON and FROMME, JJ., join in the foregoing dissent.