Document ID: s3://data.kl3m.ai/documents/govinfo/USCOURTS/USCOURTS-almd-2_16-cr-00023/USCOURTS-almd-2_16-cr-00023-0/pdf.json

Parties Involved:
Christopher Bernard Pitts
Defendant
USA
Plaintiff

Document Text:

OPINION AND ORDER

This case is before the court on defendant 

Christopher Bernard Pitts’s motion to continue. For the 

reasons set forth below, the court finds that jury 

selection and trial, now set for April 4, 2016, should 

be continued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).

While the granting of a continuance is left to the 

sound discretion of the trial judge, United States v. 

Stitzer, 785 F.2d 1506, 1516 (11th Cir. 1986), the court 

is limited by the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, 

18 U.S.C. § 3161. The Act provides in part:

"In any case in which a plea of not 

guilty is entered, the trial of a 

defendant charged in an information or 

indictment with the commission of an 

offense shall commence within seventy 

days from the filing date (and making 

public) of the information or 

indictment, or from the date the 

defendant has appeared before a 

IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE

MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, NORTHERN DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA )

) CRIMINAL ACTION NO.

 v. ) 2:16cr23-MHT

) (WO)

CHRISTOPHER BERNARD PITTS )

Case 2:16-cr-00023-LSC-WC Document 13 Filed 02/16/16 Page 1 of 3
2

judicial officer of the court in which 

such charge is pending, whichever date 

last occurs."

§ 3161(c)(1). The Act excludes from the 70-day period 

any continuance based on "findings that the ends of 

justice served by taking such action outweigh the best 

interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy 

trial." § 3161(h)(7)(A). In granting such a 

continuance, the court may consider, among other 

factors, whether the failure to grant the continuance 

"would deny counsel for the defendant ... reasonable 

time necessary for effective preparation, taking into 

account the exercise of due diligence." 

§ 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).

The court concludes that, in this case, the ends of 

justice served by granting a continuance outweigh the 

interest of the public and Pitts in a speedy trial. 

Pitts’s counsel has informed the court that he has 

recently received several thousand pages of discovery, 

and that he and an expert he has hired will require a 

number of months to review it. As Pitts is alleged to 

have devised a relatively complex scheme by which to

Case 2:16-cr-00023-LSC-WC Document 13 Filed 02/16/16 Page 2 of 3
defraud the government, this extended period of 

preparation is not unreasonable. Especially given that 

the government does not oppose this motion, and in light 

of the fact that Pitts is not detained, the court finds 

that a continuance is warranted in order to allow the 

defense and its expert sufficient time to review the 

discovery and prepare for trial.

***

Accordingly, it is ORDERED as follows:

(1) Defendant Christopher Bernard Pitts’s unopposed 

motion to continue trial (doc. no. 11) is granted.

(2) The jury selection and trial, now set for April 

4, 2016, are reset for September 6, 2016, at 10:00 a.m., 

in Courtroom 2FMJ of the Frank M. Johnson Jr. United 

States Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, 

Montgomery, Alabama.

DONE, this the 16th day of February, 2016.

 /s/ Myron H. Thompson 

UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

Case 2:16-cr-00023-LSC-WC Document 13 Filed 02/16/16 Page 3 of 3