Title: State v. Rhodes
Citation: 104 Ariz. 451, 454 P.2d 993
Docket Number: 9370-PR
State: Arizona
Issuer: Arizona Supreme Court
Date: May 29, 1969

104 Ariz. 451 (1969) 454 P.2d 993 STATE of Arizona, Appellee, v. Douglas L. RHODES, Appellant. No. 9370-PR. Supreme Court of Arizona. In Banc. May 29, 1969. *452 Gary K. Nelson, Atty. Gen., Darrell F. Smith, Former Atty. Gen., by Carl Waag, Asst. Atty. Gen., for appellee. Vernon B. Croaff, Public Defender, by Grant Laney, Deputy Public Defender, for appellant. Douglas L. Rhodes in pro. per. McFARLAND, Justice: Douglas Rhodes, hereinafter designated as defendant, was charged with the crime of attempting to obtain money or property by means of a false or bogus check, in violation of § 13-311, A.R.S., as amended. Defendant entered a plea of guilty to the charge, and was sentenced by the court. From this sentence he appealed. The Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment of guilty, set aside the sentence of the Superior Court, and remanded the matter to the Superior Court for imposition of sentence at a future date. 7 Ariz. App. 562, 441 P.2d 790. This Court granted defendant's petition for review. Decision of the Court of Appeals is vacated. The information alleged that the crime was committed on the 12th of November 1965. Defendant left Arizona in 1966, and went to California, where he committed several similar crimes for which he was there sentenced to serve a term in prison. Defendant had been charged in Arizona on the 24th of September 1963 for the crime of drawing a check without sufficient funds. He was held to answer on the charge, and was released on bail. He did not appear for trial in the Superior Court. On the 8th of January 1966 he turned himself in to the police department of Fresno, California, and admitted to writing numerous bad checks, at which time he informed the authorities about the forgery charges and offenses in other states. Defendant had written the county attorney of Maricopa County, making known his availability to stand trial, and on the 25th day of May 1967, after a correspondence between defendant and the State of Arizona, defendant was brought from California by executive order for trial in the State of Arizona, to be returned to the State of California for the completion of his sentence after his trial in Arizona. Upon his return to Arizona, the new charge was filed, and it was to that charge that he entered a plea of not guilty, and thereafter changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. He was represented by Thomas Thinnes, a deputy public defender. The court found him guilty as charged, and sentenced him to be Defendant appealed from his sentence. Briefs were filed both by the public defender's office and by defendant in propria personam. He first contends that he was denied the right to a speedy trial under Article II, Sec. 24, of the Arizona Constitution, A.R.S., and the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The question then is whether defendant under the circumstances has been deprived of due process of law, and whether the delay deprived him of the opportunity to prepare for and defend himself at the trial. We have previously passed upon this question, and have held that the right to a speedy trial attaches at the time the accused is held to answer, and that there is no deprivation prior to that stage of the case. State v. Tafoya, 104 Ariz. 424, 454 P.2d 569 [May 14, 1969]; State v. Burrell, 102 Ariz. 136, 426 P.2d 633; State v. Tuggle, 101 Ariz. 216, 418 P.2d 372; Palmer v. State, 99 Ariz. 93, 407 P.2d 64; and State v. Maldonado, 92 Ariz. 70, 373 P.2d 583. In State v. Tuggle, supra, we said: Defendant, by entering his plea of guilty, waived any question in regard to his right "to a speedy trial or due process of law." The next question involves the procedure of the court in the pronouncement of sentence. It is contended in the amicus *454 curiae brief of the public defender's office, in support of the petition for review, that after a verdict or plea of guilty it is the duty of the court to pronounce judgment and sentence "without unreasonable delay." Rule 324, Rules of Crim. Proc., Revised, 17 A.R.S., provides: The provision which prohibits a judgment from being passed until three days after a conviction is for the purpose of giving the defendant an opportunity to make a showing in mitigation of the sentence. State v. White, 97 Ariz. 196, 398 P.2d 903. The next provision requires that a judgment shall be postponed until after the motions for new trial and arrest of judgment are overruled, unless they are expressly waived, in which case judgment may be rendered immediately. There is no inference from these provisions that the court may unreasonably delay the passing of sentence. As a matter of fact, a reasonable interpretation of the law is to the contrary. In the case of Pollard v. United States, 352 U.S. 354, 77 S. Ct. 481, 1 L. Ed. 2d 393, cited by the public defender's office, the majority of the Supreme Court held that the court might impose sentence after a two-year delay after holding a previous sentence to be void; however, it is stated that the time of sentence was not "at the will of the judge," and that any delay must not be "purposeful or oppressive." The reason for allowing the sentence to be imposed two years later was that the invalidity of the previous sentence was accidental and was promptly remedied when discovered. In Hall v. State, Okl.Cr., 306 P.2d 361, where there was a suspension of the imposition of sentence to an uncertain date, the court held: In Grant v. McLeod, Okl.Cr., 325 P.2d 1083, a later case the Oklahoma court stated: See also McLaughlin v. State, 207 Ind. 484, 192 N.E. 753, 97 A.L.R. 800, and annotation in 97 A.L.R. 802. Also Smith v. State, 188 Ind. 64, 121 N.E. 829, 3 A.L.R. 999, followed by annotation at p. 1003, to the effect that sentence must be pronounced within a reasonable time. Rule 335, Rules of Crim. Proc., 17 A.R.S., specifically provides: It is evident that it was intended to require that sentence be pronounced within a reasonable time. Under the facts in the instant case no good cause for not pronouncing sentence having been shown, it was the duty of the court to pronounce sentence as provided for in Rule 335, Rules of Crim. Proc., 17 A.R.S., or to have suspended the imposition of sentence in accordance with the revised statute, § 13-1657, A.R.S. The next question is the validity of that part of the court's sentence making it run concurrently with sentence of the court in the State of California. This question is one of first impression with this Court. Rule 338, Rules of Crim. Proc., 17 A.R.S. provides: Sec. 13-1652, A.R.S., provides: Both the rules of this Court, and the statutes give the court authority to fix the date of the beginning of the sentence at a date prior to delivery of the defendant to the Arizona State Penitentiary. It is common knowledge that the courts frequently give a defendant credit for time that he may have been incarcerated in jail prior to sentencing. While this provision is not mandatory, justice requires that the court have this discretion. Otherwise, after a plea of guilty or a verdict of guilty by a jury, a defendant would not be entitled to credit for the time required for an investigation by the probation officers prior to sentencing. Under Rule 339, Rules Crim. Proc., 17 A.R.S., there can be no question but what this rule was intended to permit the court imposing a second or later sentence to have authority to make the sentence run concurrently with a former sentence imposed by another court. See Odekirk v. Ryan, 6th Cir., 85 F.2d 313. The question then is whether this provision referring to a prior sentence applies to a prior sentence in a court of another State. The Penal Code of California, Sec. 669, provides, in part: The California courts have interpreted this section, in In re Stoliker, 49 Cal. 2d 75, 315 P.2d 12: The interpretation of Section 669 of the California Penal Code, in the Stoliker case, supra, holding that the statutory words "different proceedings or courts" includes federal courts, was broadened to include courts of other States in the case of In re Riddle, 240 Cal. App. 2d 707, 49 Cal. Rptr. 919, wherein it is stated: Section 13-1652, A.R.S., in permitting a court to fix a date when sentence is to begin, does not state where the person is to be confined before delivery to the Arizona State Penitentiary; as a result, when the court fixes the date for commencement of sentence at a date prior to the delivery to the Arizona State Penitentiary, we are confronted with the question of whether such sentence can be made to run concurrently with confinement in a penitentiary of another State. An interpretation is required as to the meaning of our statute just as it was required in California to define the meaning of the provision of "other courts" in Sec. 669, supra, which resulted in the holding that a sentence might run concurrently with that pronounced in a court of another State. We are of the opinion that the interpretation given by the California court that a court may make a sentence run concurrently with that of another State is a reasonable interpretation, and should be followed by Arizona. While we recognize that the application of the rule set forth by California may result in some difficulties, it permits the trial court to exercise a discretion. As in the instant case, the trial court evidently was of the opinion that a sentence of from three to five years' imprisonment regardless of where served was sufficient as far as the Arizona crime was concerned. While the court could have suspended the imposition of sentence during that time, the court was evidently of the opinion that justice would be better served by allowing the sentences to run concurrently, which would give defendant a greater incentive for rehabilitation. We hold the sentence of the trial court valid. Decision of the Court of Appeals is vacated, and judgment of the lower court affirmed. UDALL, C.J., LOCKWOOD, V.C.J., and STRUCKMEYER and HAYS, JJ., concur.