Opinion ID: 725072
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: the defendant-appellee's right to a speedy appeal

Text: 12 Before applying the appellate-delay version of Barker, we must answer an additional question in this case: does the right to a speedy appeal extend to criminal defendants who are not the ones appealing? Again, we answer in the affirmative. It might be argued that a defendant-appellee should not be permitted to assert the right, because unlike a defendant-appellant, the appellee's term of incarceration will generally not be affected by undue delay in adjudicating an appeal. In other words, whereas a defendant-appellant with a meritorious appeal might be forced to serve an unjust sentence because of a delay in resolving his appeal, the government's appeal of a criminal sentence does not result in longer incarceration for the defendant-appellee unless and until the government wins its appeal; therefore, speedy appeal rights should only attach to the former situation. In truth, this argument is not a sufficient ground on which to find the modified Barker analysis inapplicable to the delay in Smith's case. The Barker analysis already contemplates that a delay will sometimes benefit a defendant rather than burden him. If a defendant-appellee ultimately benefits from delay by obtaining an undeserved, temporary release from custody pending the government's appeal, then that absence of prejudice counts heavily against him under Barker if he raises a due process claim predicated on appellate delay. Moreover, the absence of one type of prejudice does not mean that a delay cannot prejudice a defendant-appellee in other ways--for example, by impairing his arguments on appeal or his defenses in the event of a resentencing. The fact that a defendant-appellee's length of sentence is unaffected by delay thus provides no basis for distinguishing his due process rights from those of a defendant-appellant. It only provides a basis for assigning different weights to the same factors in the same balancing test. 13 Similarly, it appears that holding Barker applicable to appellants but not appellees would ultimately have little positive effect, if any. It would only induce those few appellees who have not already filed cross appeals to file meritless cross appeals, so that they, too, might reap the lopsided benefit of appellant status: the ability to assert a speedy appeal claim. Even in those cases where a defendant-appellee actually preferred delay because it prolonged her temporary release, it would rarely hurt to file a cross appeal--it would preserve the ability to assert the claim without producing, except in the most unlikely circumstances, any speedier a disposition. 14 In short, we see no persuasive reason for recognizing only a defendant-appellant's right to a speedy appeal. The modified four-factor analysis of Barker provides an adequate framework for scrutinizing delays when the government is the appealing party, as well as when the defendant appeals. We therefore proceed to an application of the Barker principles to the facts of Smith's case.