Case Name: STATE of Louisiana v. Jerry L. DEVITO
Court: Louisiana Supreme Court
Jurisdiction: Louisiana
Decision Date: 1980-07-08
Citations: 391 So. 2d 813
Docket Number: No. 67261
Parties: STATE of Louisiana v. Jerry L. DEVITO.
Judges: DIXON, C. J., dissents with reasons.
Reporter: Southern Reporter, Second Series
Volume: 391
Pages: 813–816

Head Matter:
STATE of Louisiana v. Jerry L. DEVITO.
No. 67261.
Supreme Court of Louisiana.
July 8, 1980.
On Rehearing Dec. 15, 1980.
Joseph J. Tosh, Gretna, for defendant-relator.
William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Barbara Rutledge, Asst. Atty. Gen., John M. Mam-oulides, Dist. Atty., Abbott J. Reeves, Asst. Dist. Atty., for plaintiff-respondent.

Opinion:
BLANCHE, Justice.
We granted writs on defendant/relator's application to consider whether, during his incarceration in a New Jersey prison, prescription ran on the state's prosecution against him for armed robbery.
On October 3, 1976, a warrant was issued for relator's arrest charging that he had committed a robbery in Jefferson Parish on October 1, 1976. A telegram dated February 12, 1977 from Monmouth County, New Jersey law enforcement authorities advised the Jefferson Parish Sheriff's Office of relator's whereabouts, namely, that he was being detained in the Monmouth County Jail. On February 16,1977, some four days later, prosecution was instituted against relator by the filing of a bill of information by the District Attorney of Jefferson Parish. Relator bases his claim of prescription on La.C.Cr.P. art. 578, which provides:
"Except as otherwise provided in this Chapter, no trial shall be commenced: (1) In capital cases after three years from the date of institution of the prosecution; (2) In other felony cases after two years from the date of institution of the prosecution; and (3) In misdemeanor cases after one year from the date of institution of the prosecution. The offense charged shall determine the applicable limitation."
Thus, it appears that in this non-capital felony case, since the prosecution was instituted by filing a bill of information on February 16, 1977, no trial of petitioner would be permitted after February 16, 1979 unless some fact operated to interrupt that prescriptive period under the provisions of La.C.Cr.P. art. 579. That article provides:
"The period of limitation established by Article 578 shall be interrupted if: (1) The defendant at any time, with the purpose to avoid detection, apprehension, or prosecution, flees from the state, is outside the state, or is absent from his usual place of abode within the state; or (2) The defendant cannot be tried because of insanity or because his presence for trial cannot be obtained by legal process, or for any other cause beyond the control of the state.
"The periods of limitation established by Article 578 shall commence to run anew from the date the cause of interruption no longer exists."
The state suggests that indeed, prescription was interrupted because defendant's presence at trial could not be obtained for reasons beyond the control of the state. The state submits that relator would not waive extradition and that the state made a good faith effort to extradite him. While we do not impune the good faith of the state, the record reveals that relator was not extradited to Louisiana and his trial commenced within the prescriptive period of two years from the date of the filing of the charges against him because of the state's fault.
From the documentary evidence which appears in the record, we are of the opinion that the lengthy delay in obtaining an order of extradition was caused by neglect. The first attempt at extradition failed because the documents sent to the State of New Jersey were incomplete; there appeared to have been no re-extradition agreement included among them. Furthermore, there is a time gap in the state's efforts to pursue extradition from September 1, 1977 to some time in the fall of 1979, no clear 1979 date being shown in the record. The New Jersey court did not hold a hearing on the matter until October, 1979, and no judgment was rendered until November 8, 1979. In our opinion, the State of Louisiana failed to show that it had been unable to obtain defendant's presence because of any "cause beyond the control of the state", and now that the time limit of Art. 578 has run, the state will be barred from continuing the prosecution.
Prior jurisprudence in this area has been inconsistent. State v. Shushan, 206 La. 415, 10 So.2d 185 (1944), which applied a similar but earlier statute, contains reasoning consistent with that expressed in the instant case. In Shushan, supra, the state knew at all times of the whereabouts of the defendants, and we held that incarceration did not act as an interruption of the running of prescription and that where the state did not pursue the legal means available to it to return the defendant to the jurisdiction of the court then prescription would operate as a bar to prosecution.
However, State v. Dupree, 256 La. 146, 235 So.2d 408 (1970) appears to be an incorrect application of the present statute. There, the defendant fled this state and his whereabouts were unknown. The state later learned of the defendant's incarceration in Mississippi, and after serving four years in prison there, he was returned to Louisiana for trial. We held that prescription was interrupted while the defendant's whereabouts were unknown, and that when they did become known, prescription did not begin to run anew when neither the state nor defendant did anything to bring the prosecution to trial. We read Art. 578 as mandating trial within two years after institution of this prosecution unless the state can show a valid and continuing interruption under Art. 579. To the extent that Dupree would permit the state to delay commencement of trial without bearing the burden of showing valid reasons therefor under the exceptions set out in Art. 579, that case is overruled.
For the reasons assigned herein, the ruling of the court below is reversed and the case remanded with the order that defendant's motion to quash be granted and further proceedings below be dismissed.
REVERSED AND REMANDED with orders.
DIXON, C. J., dissents with reasons.
MARCUS, J., dissents and assigns reasons.
LEMMON, J., dissents and assigns reasons.