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15-P-1088 Appeals Court

COMMONWEALTH vs. NASAHN DAVIS.

No. 15-P-1088.

Suffolk. September 12, 2016. - June 2, 2017.

Present: Agnes, Neyman, & Henry, JJ.

Practice, Criminal, Speedy trial, Dismissal.

Complaint received and sworn to in the Roxbury Division of 

the Boston Municipal Court Department on March 16, 2012.

After transfer to the Central Division of the Boston 

Municipal Court Department, a motion to dismiss was heard by 

Robert J. McKenna, J.

Matthew T. Sears, Assistant District Attorney (Lindsey E.

Weinstein, Assistant District Attorney, also present) for the 

Commonwealth.

Patrick Levin, Committee for Public Counsel Services, for 

the defendant.

HENRY, J. Seven hundred and forty-two days after Nasahn 

Davis was arraigned in the Boston Municipal Court on charges of 

carrying a firearm without a license in violation of G. L. 

c. 269, § 10(a), he filed a motion to dismiss under 
2

Mass.R.Crim.P. 36(b), 378 Mass. 909 (1979). That rule provides 

that a criminal defendant who is not brought to trial within 

twelve months of the "return day," here the arraignment, "is 

presumptively entitled to dismissal of the charges unless the 

Commonwealth justifies the delay." Commonwealth v. Spaulding, 

411 Mass. 503, 504 (1992). "The delay may be excused by a 

showing that it falls within one of the '[e]xcluded [p]eriods' 

provided in rule 36 (b) (2), or by a showing that the defendant 

acquiesced in, was responsible for, or benefited from the 

delay." Ibid. Accord Barry v. Commonwealth, 390 Mass. 285, 

292, 298 n.17 (1983). "A failure to object to a continuance or 

other delay constitutes acquiescence." Commonwealth v. Tanner, 

417 Mass. 1, 3 (1994).

The defendant's motion to dismiss was allowed; on appeal, 

the Commonwealth contends that only eighty-one of the 742 days 

since arraignment are includable in the rule 36 calculation, 

contending, among other things, that 268 days of delay 

attributable to court congestion when both sides were ready for 

trial must be excluded. We conclude that delays attributable to 

court congestion -- if the defendant objects -- are not 

excludable from the rule 36 calculation, unless the judge makes 

the necessary findings under rule 36(b)(2)(F). Because the 

Commonwealth cannot justify the delays in excess of the 365-day 
3

limit, we affirm the order allowing the defendant's motion to 

dismiss.

Discussion. The parties agree that the number of days that 

elapsed between the defendant's arraignment on March 19, 2012,

and the date on which he filed his motion to dismiss, March 31, 

2014, is 742 days.1 Subtracting twelve months (365 days) from 

this total, as well as the 218 days the parties agree are 

excluded from the calculation,2 leaves 159 days for which the 

Commonwealth must justify a delay.3

We first consider delays due to court congestion and then 

address the remaining contested periods of delay in 

chronological order. "To a large extent, we are in as good a 

position as the judge below to decide whether the time limits 

 

1 The motion judge mistakenly calculated a total of 744 

elapsed days by including March 7, 2013, twice and by counting 

March 31, 2014, the date the defendant filed his motion to 

dismiss.

2 The defendant correctly concedes that the following dates 

were properly excluded: March 19, 2012; April 18 to July 30, 

2012 (104 days); August 6 to November 15, 2012 (102 days); 

December 12, 2012; March 7, 2013; May 13, 2013; June 18, 2013; 

September 18, 2013; October 1, 2013; October 30 to November 1, 

2013 (three days); and January 22, 2014. The defendant also 

acknowledges that May 8, 2013, should have been excluded as a 

day in court. See rule 36(b)(3) ("In computing any time limit 

other than an excluded day, the day of the act or event which 

causes a designated period of time to begin shall not be 

included").

3 Initially, the defendant was in custody. At some point, 

he was released with a condition of global positioning system 

(GPS) monitoring.
4

imposed by the rule have run." Barry, 390 Mass. at 289. "This 

is so because '[w]hen a claim is raised under rule 36, the 

docket and minutes of the clerk are prima facie evidence of the 

facts recorded therein.' The other portions of the record are 

also documents which we can evaluate as well as the judge below. 

'In these circumstances, while we will give deference to the 

determination made by the judge below, we may reach our own 

conclusions.'"

4 Commonwealth v. Farris, 390 Mass. 300, 303-304 

(1983), quoting from Barry, supra at 289-290.

1. Court congestion-related delays. Four of the 

continuances contributing to the delay of the defendant's trial, 

accounting for 268 days, are attributable to what the parties 

agree was court congestion. The occasion of each of these four 

delays was a lack of any or a sufficient number of jurors, but 

the length of the delays was also due at least in part to the 

court's calendar constraints. These delays include the periods 

from June 19 to September 17, 2013;5 October 2 to October 29, 

 

4 We may not be in as good a position as the session judge 

or motion judge who makes findings under rule 36(b)(2)(F). To 

those findings, we will give deference. See Barry, 390 Mass. at 

289-290. See also Commonwealth v. Taylor, 469 Mass. 516, 517, 

525 (2014) (reviewing determination that delays worked to 

defendant's advantage for abuse of discretion).

5 The case was marked first case out for trial on June 18, 

2013. Both parties were ready for trial that day. The judge

announced, "And Counsel, we don't have the availability for jury 

trial." The case could not be tried the next day or later that 

week because of either a lack of judges or jurors. The 
5

2013;6 November 2, 2013, to January 21, 2014;7 and January 23 to 

March 30, 2014.

8 The defendant objected to each of these delays 

 

defendant objected to the continuance and asked for the next 

available trial date, August 26, but the judge required a date 

in September. The trial was set for September 18, 2013, and was 

again marked as the first case out. The judge described the 

delay as "due to Court congestion."

6 On October 1, 2013, the judge announced that the court had 

only sixteen jurors and another case had priority; the judge did 

not think they could empanel with only eight remaining jurors. 

The Commonwealth raised a concern about "getting a lengthy 

history on the trial dates." The defendant also objected to the 

continuance. The judge noted that both parties had all 

witnesses present and marked the case for trial on October 30, 

2013, as the first case out. The judge stated that the basis 

for the continuance was "not court congestion. It's just 

unavailability of jurors -- enough jurors for the day." The 

distinction is not meaningful. The Supreme Judicial Court has 

treated "court congestion" and lack of available judges or 

jurors together as a "lack of available court resources" and has 

required a defendant to object if he wants to preserve his rule 

36 rights. Commonwealth v. Denehy, 466 Mass. 723, 731 & n.12 

(2014). Here, the defendant explicitly objected to the 

continuance.

7 The parties began empanelling a jury on October 31, 2013, 

using a venire from which another case already had been 

empanelled, and seated five jurors. On November 1, 2013, both 

parties were ready for trial. The defendant, who is AfricanAmerican, moved to dismiss the seated jurors, arguing that "[i]t 

did not appear that there were any African-Americans in the 

venire yesterday" or in the alternative to work through the 

venire in reverse number order so the parties would not be

selecting among the remainder from the other trial. The judge

denied the motions. The judge noted that twenty-four jurors 

were available for all trials and asked the court personnel 

responsible for the venire to send up twelve. Instead, all the 

jurors were sent to the Juvenile Court. The previously seated 

jurors were kept waiting all morning. As it became clear that 

the trial was going to commence, and therefore end, later than 

expected, two of the five seated jurors raised scheduling 

conflicts. Nineteen jurors returned from Juvenile Court and the 

judge decided to dismiss the seated jurors and restart jury 
6

and the motion judge found that these 268 days are attributable 

to the Commonwealth. See Commonwealth v. Denehy, 466 Mass. 723,

731-732 (2014) (in order to include delay in rule 36 

calculation, defendant must object, even where objection is 

futile because delay is due to court congestion). Indeed, the 

Supreme Judicial Court has repeatedly stated that "normally 

court congestion is not a sufficient justification for the 

denial of the right to a speedy trial." Spaulding, 411 Mass. at 

507. See Commonwealth v. Beckett, 373 Mass. 329, 332 (1977) 

("[C]ourt congestion is not the responsibility of the defendant 

and must be weighed against the Commonwealth in assessing the 

reasons for the delay. But the weight to be given to such a 

cause for delay is not so heavy as a deliberate prosecutorial 

 

selection. The judge dismissed the seated jurors, not because 

of the defendant's motion but because of the need to release the 

two jurors with scheduling conflicts and the judge's decision to 

then also release the three who had been forced to wait idly by. 

The Commonwealth objected to dismissing the jurors and attempted 

to push the case forward. After noting its objection to 

dismissing the jurors, the Commonwealth deferred to the judge's 

inclination "to allow for continuance to a new date based upon 

the fact that there's court congestion, hardship, inability to 

impanel." The defendant pressed to go forward, to continue 

empanelling and start trial that day. The Commonwealth raised 

its concern that it could not complete its first witness that 

day and the witness was not available the next court day. The 

judge then continued the case. The case was marked first out 

for trial eighty-one days later, on January 22, 2014.

8 Due to a snow emergency, there were no jurors on January 

22, 2014. The defendant objected to a continuance. Both 

counsel indicated availability the next day or another day. The 

judge set the matter for trial on April 9, 2014.
7

attempt to delay a trial"); Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 410 Mass. 

1, 4-5 (1991) ("As a general proposition, court congestion by 

itself will not constitute an adequate justification for the 

denial of the right to a speedy trial. . . . However, reasons 

of court congestion may be adequate to excuse delay when . . . a 

defendant has agreed to a continuance based on congestion, 

rendering him at least partially responsible for the delay").

9

Nonetheless, the Commonwealth argues that it should not be 

penalized for the delays because the Commonwealth was ready for 

trial on the dates in question and was not at fault for the 

delays. See Commonwealth v. Lauria, 411 Mass. 63, 69-70 (1991); 

Reporter's Notes to Rule 36, Massachusetts Rules of Court, Rules 

of Criminal Procedure, at 210 (Thomson Reuters 2017) ("[T]he 

Commonwealth should not be penalized . . . when the cause[s] for 

delay are beyond its control"). In fact, the defendant 

forthrightly concedes that the prosecution did all it could to 

press the case forward.10

 

9 Although rule 36 is a case management tool separate from 

the constitutional right to a speedy trial, we note that the 

United States Supreme Court has also favored weighing court 

congestion against the government. See Barker v. Wingo, 407 

U.S. 514, 531 (1972) ("[delays resulting from] overcrowded 

courts . . . should be considered since the ultimate 

responsibility for such circumstances must rest with the 

government rather than with the defendant").

10 We also appreciate that the Commonwealth has candidly 

noted in its brief the occasions where the defendant objected, 

even if the objection was not reflected on the docket sheet.
8

The Commonwealth relies primarily on three cases in arguing

that the congestion delays should not be included in the rule 36 

calculation. However, these cases are factually 

distinguishable, as they involve defendants who acquiesced to 

continuances.

In Lauria, the defendants' cases were delayed for a 

significant period of time due to a misplaced case file. 

Lauria, 411 Mass. at 65. During this delay, only the prosecutor 

attempted to advance the case by submitting letters notifying 

the judge and the parties that motions were still pending before 

the court. Id. at 65-67. The Supreme Judicial Court declined 

to adopt a per se rule that delay caused by misplaced court 

papers always counts against the Commonwealth. Id. at 70. 

Rather, the court held that the defendants' rule 36 motions were 

properly denied because "a disinterested attitude by a defendant 

in the progress of his case can permit a finding of 

acquiescence." Id. at 68. Here, the Commonwealth does not 

argue, nor is there evidence to suggest, that this defendant 

demonstrated disinterest in the progress of his case. The

defendant repeatedly objected to delays attributable to court 

congestion, and persisted in attempting to advance his case.

The second case on which the Commonwealth relies, 

Spaulding, essentially held that the Commonwealth may justify a 

delay because of court congestion if the defendant has agreed to 
9

the continuance. Spaulding, 411 Mass. at 507. Significantly, 

the court noted in Spaulding that "normally court congestion is 

not a sufficient justification for the denial of the right to a 

speedy trial." Ibid. The court made an exception "when . . . a 

defendant has agreed to a continuance based on congestion, 

rendering him at least partially responsible for the delay." 

Ibid., quoting from Conefrey, 410 Mass. at 5. Here, the 

defendant noted his objection at each delay occasioned by court 

congestion and cannot be said to have agreed to the 

continuances.

Finally, in Denehy, the Supreme Judicial Court determined 

that because there was no evidence that the defendant had raised 

an objection to the court-imposed continuances, including 

continuances caused by court congestion, he should be deemed to 

have acquiesced to them, as the court did not "wish to penalize 

unnecessarily the Commonwealth for delays to which it may object 

as well." Denehy, 466 Mass. at 732. The Commonwealth argues 

that the motion judge misread Denehy to hold that because the 

defendant objected to the court congestion delays, the time must 

be attributed to the Commonwealth. While we agree with the 

principle that the Commonwealth should not be unfairly penalized

for delay when it also was ready for trial, this does not end 

the inquiry where, as here, the defendant zealously guarded his 

right to a speedy trial. We do not hold that all congestion-
10

related delays to which a defendant objects will necessarily be

counted against the Commonwealth in all circumstances; rather, 

where the defendant objects to the delay and did not cause, 

acquiesce to, or benefit from the delay, rule 36 constrains the 

Commonwealth to justify the delay under an exception to rule 36 

in order for the time to be excluded from the rule 36 

calculation.

Rule 36, titled "Case Management," is "designed to assist 

the trial courts in administering their dockets." Reporter's 

Notes to Rule 36, supra at 209. The rule provides a means for 

defendants and the public to secure speedy trials and promotes 

"the public interest in the efficient operation of the criminal 

justice system." Barry, 390 Mass. at 296. "The goal of 

providing defendants with speedy trials can be obtained only if 

the rule is interpreted to place certain obligations on all 

parties, including prosecutors, the trial courts, and 

defendants." Ibid. "[W]e are mindful that the courts must also 

control their own dockets so that criminal cases are brought to 

trial within the time periods specified by rule 36." Lauria,

411 Mass. at 70. And we understand that our trial courts 

sometimes "deal with overwhelming caseloads without adequate 

staff or resources." Ibid.

The eight enumerated exceptions in rule 36(b)(2) are meant 

to ensure that the Commonwealth is not unfairly charged with 
11

delays that, if included, "would upset the balance of 

obligations envisioned by the rule." Spaulding, 411 Mass. at 

506. Rule 36(b)(2) provides that the following periods of time 

"shall be excluded" in computing the running of the rule 36 

clock:

"(F) Any period of delay resulting from a continuance 

granted by a judge on his own motion or at the request of 

the defendant or his counsel or at the request of the 

prosecutor, if the judge granted the continuance on the 

basis of his findings that the ends of justice served by 

taking such action outweighed the best interests of the 

public and the defendant in a speedy trial. No period of 

delay resulting from a continuance granted by the court in 

accordance with this paragraph shall be excludable under 

this subdivision unless the judge sets forth in the record 

of the case, either orally or in writing, his reasons for 

finding that the ends of justice served by the granting of 

the continuance outweigh the best interests of the public 

and the defendant in a speedy trial."

Court congestion is not a new occurrence, and resulting delays 

are includable in the rule 36 calculation unless the judge makes 

the required findings or the defendant acquiesced in, was 

responsible for, or benefited from the delay.

While no judge expressly invoked rule 36(b)(2)(F) in 

continuing this case, the Commonwealth argues that for every 

delay due to court congestion, the judge who ordered the 

continuance implicitly invoked that exception by setting forth 

sufficient facts on the record to explain the continuance.11 We 

 

11 Such findings need not be explicit, but may be implied 

from the record. See, e.g., Beckett, 373 Mass. at 332-333 

(alleged constitutional violation). The better practice is to 
12

disagree. In each instance of court congestion, the judge

explained that there were no jurors or an inadequate number of 

jurors, and why. We conclude that the rule requires more or it 

would be meaningless. See Barry, 390 Mass. at 297-298 (rule 

36[b][2][F] "excludes delay resulting from the granting of 

continuances only if the judge finds the continuance to be in 

the interest of justice" and "therefore, seeks to encourage the 

exercise of oversight by the court over the progress of criminal 

prosecutions"). The courts as well as the parties play a key 

role in case management. None of the findings made in 

conjunction with the numerous continuances in this case 

satisfied the requirements of rule 36(b)(2)(F).

If we were to hold that delays due to court congestion 

could be excluded from the rule 36 calculation even where the 

defendant objects and makes all effort to push the case forward, 

the rule would quickly lose its power. This case is a prime 

example. Here, over two years had passed without trial, 

including 268 days (nearly seventy-five percent of one year) 

that both parties agree were attributable to court congestion. 

 

expressly make a rule 36(b)(2)(F) finding. Compare Commonwealth

v. Loftis, 361 Mass. 545, 549-550 (1972) (alleged violation of 

G. L. c. 277, § 72A, as then in effect). The Commonwealth can 

and should request an express finding to ensure that any rule 36 

speedy trial concern is addressed; here, the Commonwealth did 

not do so at any of the pretrial hearings.
13

On this record, these 268 days are included in the rule 36 

calculation.

We note that, with regard to the period November 2, 2013, 

to January 21, 2014 (see note 7, supra), the Commonwealth argues 

that the defendant benefited from the delay because discharging 

the five empanelled jurors and starting selection anew was 

"going to give the [d]efendant what the [d]efendant wanted, 

. . . another chance at another jury." However, the defendant

was willing to continue empanelment that day and objected to 

continuing the case. The motion judge found that the 

defendant's objection to this delay was "in no way subverted by" 

his prior "motion to dismiss the jurors due to racial 

representation in the jury pool." We agree, particularly 

because the "benefit" was tied to restarting the jury selection

process, not to the continuance. In fact, the defendant would 

have received the same "benefit" whether there was no 

continuance at all, a continuance of one day, or of hundreds of 

days. Moreover, a claim of benefit cannot override an express 

objection. See Commonwealth v. Rodgers, 448 Mass. 538, 547

(2007) ("When rule 36 rights are being expressly asserted, we 

will not second-guess the defendant's strategic choice and 

conclude that he was really better off for having endured the 

objected-to delay").
14

2. Other delays. a. July 31, 2012, to August 5, 2012 

(totaling six days). The motion judge included these six days 

in the rule 36 calculation. The period at issue here occurred 

between the scheduling of the initial trial date and the date 

the defendant filed his application seeking leave to file an

interlocutory appeal.12 On July 30, 2012, the case was set for 

an initial trial date thirty-six days later, on September 5, 

2012. In agreeing to this trial date, the defendant waived "the 

thirty day rule," which provides that "[w]hile the defendant 

remains committed, no adjournment shall exceed thirty days at 

any one time against the objection of the defendant." G. L. 

c. 276, § 35, as amended through St. 1996, c. 211. The 

Commonwealth argues that the defendant's waiver of the thirty 

day rule means the defendant acquiesced in the entire delay from 

July 31, 2012, to the scheduled trial date of September 5, 2012. 

We conclude that the defendant may be said to have acquiesced in 

only the delay beyond the thirty days.

Acquiescence implies a watching of the ticking clock. 

Absent some extraordinary circumstance, which is not apparent on 

the record here, there is no reason to characterize the 

defendant as having acquiesced in the setting of his first trial 

date. Rather, this period is a feature of ordinary trial 

 

12 The defendant applied to a single justice of the Supreme 

Judicial Court for leave to file an interlocutory appeal from 

the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress.
15

management realities encountered by judges and trial attorneys. 

See Commonwealth v. Montgomery, 76 Mass. App. Ct. 500, 505 

(2010) ("Absent a trial date having been set in the first 

instance, there is no basis upon which this court can conclude 

that the defendant acquiesced in a delay of that date. . . . To 

conclude otherwise would foist upon the defendant the 

government's obligation to set a trial date").13 These six days 

are included in the rule 36 calculation.

b. November 16, 2012, to December 11, 2012 (totaling 

twenty-six days). These twenty-six days encompass the period 

between November 15, 2012, when the trial court received notice 

of the denial of the defendant's application to file an 

interlocutory appeal, and a status hearing on December 12, 2012.

The motion judge included these twenty-six days for the reason 

that "the Commonwealth changed a scheduled trial date to a 

status date, over the objection of the defendant."

The backdrop to these contested dates is as follows. On 

September 5, 2012, the original trial date, the case was 

 

13 Put another way, had the initial trial date been set as 

August 29, 2012, the rule 36 clock would have been ticking from 

July 31 to August 29. The rule 36 clock should not stop 

entirely when the initial trial date is set more than thirty 

days later for an incarcerated defendant. See Rodgers, 448 

Mass. at 541 (where defendant agreed to due date for pretrial 

motions more than seven days beyond filing of pretrial 

conference report, delays in excess of those seven days were 

excluded from speedy trial calculation due to defendant's 

acquiescence).
16

continued for trial to October 3, 2012, with no objection from 

the defendant. On September 26, 2012, over the defendant's 

objection, the case was scheduled for a status hearing on 

October 30, 2012, due to the pending status of the defendant's 

application for leave to file an interlocutory appeal. The 

defendant objected, requesting that the case be set for trial on 

that date. On October 30, 2012, the defendant sought "a further 

status date" of November 28, 2012, because his application to 

the single justice had yet to be decided. While it is true that 

the defendant objected to a status date for October 30, 2012, 

the further continuance of the case was a result of his own 

request for a continuance.

After receipt of the order of the single justice on 

November 15, 2012, denying him permission to file an

interlocutory appeal, the defendant was in court to review bail 

on November 16 and 19, 2012. The record is silent as to what 

happened on these dates. On November 21, 2012, the next date 

the defendant was in court, his counsel requested a trial date,

but the prosecutor was not present or available to set a trial 

date. The Commonwealth bears the burden of justifying the 

delay. It, too, could have moved for a trial date as soon as 

the single justice ruled on the defendant's application, but

does not seem to have done so, and did not rebut defense 
17

counsel's affidavit on this point.

14 We thus conclude that the 

defendant acquiesced to the delay between November 16 and 21; 

this acquiescence commenced with the defendant's request for a 

continuance to November 28, but ended before that date, on 

November 21, when he moved to advance the case to trial after 

the single justice ruled on his application for leave to file an 

interlocutory appeal. These six days are excluded. Once the 

defendant requested a trial date, his acquiescence ended and, 

accordingly, the period November 22 to December 11, 2012, twenty

days, is included in the calculation.

c. December 13, 2012, to March 6, 2013 (totaling eightyfour days). This period occurred between the December 12, 2012, 

status hearing and a hearing on March 7, 2013. Based on the 

docket sheet and clerk's notes, there is no evidence that the 

defendant objected to the rescheduling of the trial date on 

December 12, 2012. Consequently, these eighty-four days are 

excluded from the rule 36 calculation.

d. April 29, 2013, to May 12, 2013 (totaling thirteen

days, excluding May 8). Apart from May 8, 2013, which the 

defendant concedes should have been excluded as a day in court, 

 

14 In assessing whether a record correction is needed, 

docket entries may be "supplemented, or even rebutted, by other 

evidence," including affidavits. Commonwealth v. Mattos, 404 

Mass. 672, 676-677 (1989).
18

see note 2, supra, the remaining thirteen days of this period 

were properly included by the motion judge.

On April 29, 2013, the defendant filed a notice of intent 

to rely on an exemption defense.15 Citing rule 36(b)(2)(A)(v), 

the Commonwealth contends that the period between this date and 

May 13, 2013,

16 should be excluded from the calculation because 

the defendant's notice triggered the Commonwealth's pretrial 

motion for reciprocal discovery. However, a notice of defense 

is not a pretrial motion and does not require a response; 

therefore, these thirteen days cannot be excluded under rule 36. 

These thirteen days are included.

e. May 14, 2013, to June 17, 2013 (totaling thirty-five

days). On May 13, 2013, both sides were ready for trial and 

once again there was a lack of jurors. Because the defendant 

acquiesced by failing to object to the continuance, these days 

were excluded from the rule 36 calculation by the motion judge. 

We agree with the motion judge's conclusion that this period 

falls within an established exception to rule 36. See Denehy, 

466 Mass. at 731-732. These thirty-five days are excluded.

 

15 Pursuant to G. L. c. 140, § 121, the defendant planned to 

argue that the firearm was an antique replica, and thus exempt 

from the statute's licensing requirements.

16 On May 13, both parties appeared, ready for trial. The 

judge continued the case to June 18, 2013, due to a lack of 

jurors. See part 2.e, infra.
19

f. September 19, 2013, to September 30, 2013 (totaling 

twelve days). This period was similarly excluded by the motion 

judge because an essential witness was unavailable.17 We agree 

with the motion judge's conclusion. See rule 36(b)(2)(B) 

(excluding "[a]ny period of delay resulting from the absence or 

unavailability of the defendant or an essential witness"). 

These twelve days are excluded.

Conclusion. After excluding from the computation all the 

time that rule 36 and the case law contemplate should be the 

responsibility of the defendant, the Commonwealth has justified

the exclusion of 137 days over and above the 218 days the 

defendant agrees should be excluded, and is at least twenty-two

days short of the number of days it is required to excuse. In 

other words, for rule 36 purposes, 387 days had elapsed since 

the return day.18 Therefore, the motion judge did not err in 

 

17 The defendant argues that the Commonwealth's witness was 

not "unavailable" because the witness "was home with an ill 

child." A witness is unavailable under rule 36(b)(2)(B) 

"whenever his whereabouts are known but his presence for trial 

cannot be obtained by due diligence or he resists appearing at 

or being returned for trial." We conclude that this period 

falls squarely within the exception and these days were properly 

excluded.

18 We note that an additional period has elapsed on the rule 

36 clock beyond what the parties have briefed. The defendant's 

rule 36 motion was argued in the trial court on April 16, 2014, 

and, at the motion judge's request, the parties submitted a very 

helpful joint rule 36 timeline on April 22, 2014. The motion 

judge allowed the defendant's motion to dismiss on May 30, 2014.
20

allowing the defendant's motion to dismiss under Mass.R.Crim.P. 

36(b). Accordingly, we affirm the order allowing the motion to 

dismiss.

So ordered.

 

Under rule 36, a "period, not to exceed thirty days, during

which any proceeding concerning the defendant is actually under 

advisement" is excluded from the calculation. Mass.R.Crim.P. 

36(b)(2)(A)(vii). See Commonwealth v. Roman, 470 Mass. 85, 94 

(2014). Under this rule, even calculating from the date of the 

joint submission on April 22 rather than the date the motion was 

argued, after May 21, the rule 36 clock started running again.
NEYMAN, J. (concurring). This case presents the question 

whether delays attributable to court congestion and juror 

unavailability may be held against the Commonwealth under 

Mass.R.Crim.P. 36(b), 378 Mass. 909 (1979), where, as the 

majority aptly states, "[T]he prosecution did all it could to 

press the case forward." See ante at . The majority 

concludes that the answer is "yes," because the defendant 

consistently objected to the relevant trial continuances, 

"zealously guarded his right to a speedy trial," and did not 

acquiesce in the relevant delays. See ante at . 

Massachusetts case law appears to compel this result. See 

Commonwealth v. Conefrey, 410 Mass. 1, 4-5 (1991); Commonwealth

v. Lauria, 411 Mass. 63, 70-71 (1991); Commonwealth v. Denehy, 

466 Mass. 723, 732 (2014). Compare Commonwealth v. Beckett, 373 

Mass. 329, 332 (1977) (noting, in context of constitutional 

speedy trial analysis, that "court congestion is not the 

responsibility of the defendant and must be weighed against the 

Commonwealth in assessing the reasons for the delay"). Apart 

from confirming the general rule that court congestion by itself 

will not excuse delay in a rule 36 analysis, each of the abovecited cases required the presence of an additional element in 

order to excuse the delay: acquiescence, passivity, or lack of 

an objection on the part of a defendant. None of those elements 
2

exists in the present case. Accordingly, I concur in the 

result. I write separately, however, to address two concerns.

First, under the facts of the present case, strict 

application of rule 36 case law places an unfair burden on the 

executive branch to resolve an issue not of its making. By all 

accounts, the prosecution was repeatedly ready for trial and 

attempted to prioritize the trial date.1 Precluding prosecution 

of the case in these circumstances unnecessarily penalizes the 

Commonwealth, contrary to the intent of rule 36. See Denehy, 

466 Mass. at 732 ("Nor do we wish to penalize unnecessarily the 

Commonwealth for delays to which it may object as well"); 

Reporter's Notes to Rule 36, Massachusetts Rules of Court, Rules 

of Criminal Procedure, at 210 (Thomson Reuters 2017) ("[T]he 

Commonwealth should not be penalized . . . when the causes for 

delay are beyond its control"). The remedy of dismissal in such 

circumstances seemingly impedes a fundamental executive 

function, see art. 30 of the Massachusetts Declaration of 

Rights, and raises public safety concerns. See Lauria, 411 

Mass. at 72 (noting proper consideration of "the interests of 

the public in the prosecution of criminal offenses for the 

protection of society" in making rule 36 determinations).

 

1 There is no dispute, and the appellate record 

demonstrates, that the prosecution attempted to push this matter 

to trial. The Commonwealth was not at fault for any relevant 

delays and was ready for trial on the dates at issue.
3

Second, although the record demonstrates that the defendant 

benefited from the continuance from November 2, 2013, to January 

21, 2014,2 consideration of this fact appears to be foreclosed 

because the defendant objected to the continuance. Under the 

general rule, a delay may be excused from the rule 36 calculus 

by a showing that a defendant "benefited from the delay." 

Commonwealth v. Spaulding, 411 Mass. 503, 504 (1992). However, 

application of the "benefit analysis" has been limited to cases 

in which a defendant acquiesced to the delay. See Commonwealth

v. Rodgers, 448 Mass. 538, 547 (2007) ("While benefit to a 

defendant can justify delay where the record does not indicate 

express agreement to or acquiescence in a particular period of 

delay, we are unaware of any case where, notwithstanding the 

defendant's express objection to further delay . . . we have 

 

2 On October 31, 2013, during jury empanelment, the 

defendant objected to the racial composition of the jury venire.

The following day, the defendant filed a motion seeking 

additional peremptory challenges and a motion to dismiss the 

jury venire, both on the basis of the racial composition issue, 

and renewed the objection to proceeding before a 

nonrepresentative jury. The judge initially denied the motion. 

After multiple issues arose and the difficulty in seating 

additional jurors became apparent, the judge noted that "the 

defense has been asking for a new jury in this matter," and 

ultimately allowed the motion to dismiss the venire for several

reasons, including concerns with witness availability and lack 

of juror availability. The judge also stated, inter alia, "It's 

going to give the [d]efendant what the [d]efendant wanted, is 

another chance at another jury." The judge continued the case 

to January 22, 2014, over the defendant's objection.
4

excluded the time period because of 'benefit' to the 

defendant").

Here, the defendant objected on consecutive days to the 

composition of the jury venire, moved to dismiss the venire, and 

moved for additional peremptory challenges. When the judge 

dismissed the jury venire, regardless of the reasons therefor, 

the defendant received the precise benefit that he sought: the 

case would not be tried before what he considered a 

nonrepresentative jury.3 Because the defendant objected to the 

continuance, however, this delay does not constitute "excluded

time" under existing precedent.4 In my view, a balancing of 

public safety interests and the executive's right to prosecute, 

weighed against a defendant's rule 36 rights, would be 

preferable to a blanket rule that a defendant's objection to a 

continuance invariably trumps consideration of the benefit to a 

defendant under rule 36. However, it is not for this court to 

determine whether the present case, or other circumstances, 

 

3 Although the defendant derived a benefit from the delay, 

the eighty-one day continuance was not prudent in view of the 

age of the case.

4 Where the defendant claimed on consecutive days that the 

composition of the jury venire deprived him of a fair trial and 

moved to dismiss the venire, he cannot claim that the benefit of 

the continuance was a "hindsight claim." See Rodgers, 448 Mass. 

at 547 ("Hindsight claims that a defendant benefited from delay 

should not override his express statement that he does not agree 

to such delay").
5

warrant an exception to the rule stated in Rodgers, supra at 

547.