Opinion ID: 896129
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: first demand

Text: [¶ 8] The IAD provides a method for the orderly disposition of detainers filed by one jurisdiction on prisoners incarcerated in another jurisdiction. The United States, the District of Columbia, and 48 states (including North Dakota and Colorado) are parties to the IAD. See Fex v. Michigan, 507 U.S. 43, 44, 113 S.Ct. 1085, 1087, 122 L.Ed.2d 406, 411 (1993); Runck v. State, 497 N.W.2d 74, 77-78 (N.D.1993). [¶ 9] The relevant provisions of the IAD, as codified in N.D.C.C. § 29-34-01, are Sections 1 and 2 of Article III: 1. Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment in a penal or correctional institution of a party state, and whenever during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending in any other party state any untried indictment, information or complaint on the basis of which a detainer has been lodged against the prisoner, he shall be brought to trial within one hundred eighty days after he shall have caused to be delivered to the prosecuting officer and the appropriate court of the prosecuting officer's jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his request for a final disposition to be made of the indictment, information or complaint; provided that for good cause shown in open court, the prisoner or his counsel being present, the court having jurisdiction of the matter may grant any necessary or reasonable continuance. The request of the prisoner shall be accompanied by a certificate of the appropriate official having custody of the prisoner, stating the term of commitment under which the prisoner is being held, the time already served, the time remaining to be served on the sentence, the amount of good time earned, the time of parole eligibility of the prisoner, and any decisions of the state parole agency relating to the prisoner. 2. The written notice and request for final disposition referred to in paragraph 1 hereof shall be given or sent by the prisoner to the official having custody of him, who shall promptly forward it together with the certificate to the appropriate prosecuting official and court by registered or certified mail, return receipt requested. [¶ 10] Moe asserts the district court denied his request for speedy disposition of detainers solely because he referenced the wrong statute in his request. Moe's May 23, 1996 demand expressly referenced the UMDDA, and stated the demand was made pursuant to North Dakota Century Code 29-33-01. The UMDDA, codified in N.D.C.C. ch. 29-33, governs disposition of detainers against prisoners incarcerated in-state; the IAD, codified in N.D.C.C. ch. 29-34, governs disposition of detainers against prisoners incarcerated out-of-state. The IAD was the governing law when Moe was incarcerated in Colorado. [¶ 11] Moe asserts his May 23, 1996 demand in all other respects satisfied the IAD. He ignores that his demand was not accompanied by the certificate expressly required under Art. III, § 1 of the IAD. He also ignores the caselaw interpreting the IAD, holding that the certificate is mandatory and is required to trigger the 180-day provision of the IAD. See, e.g., Casper v. Ryan, 822 F.2d 1283, 1292-93 (3d Cir.1987), cert. denied, 484 U.S. 1012, 108 S.Ct. 714, 98 L.Ed.2d 664 (1988); Gearheart v. Wallace, 964 F.Supp. 205, 209 (E.D.Va.1997); State v. Toste, 198 Conn. 573, 504 A.2d 1036, 1045 (1986); State v. Bass, 320 N.W.2d 824, 828 (Iowa 1982); Isaacs v. State, 31 Md.App. 604, 358 A.2d 273, 277-78 (1976); State v. Nearhood, 2 Neb.App. 915, 518 N.W.2d 165, 170 (1994); Eckard v. Commonwealth, 20 Va.App. 619, 460 S.E.2d 242, 246 (1995). Because the May 26, 1996 demand was not accompanied by the required certificate, it was invalid and the 180-day period never began to run. Strict compliance with the notice provisions of the IAD is required, and a state is not required to bring a prisoner to trial within 180 days of an incomplete or improper IAD request. See, e.g., United States v. Henson, 945 F.2d 430, 434 (1st Cir.1991); Toste, 504 A.2d at 1045; Clater v. State, 266 Ga. 511, 467 S.E.2d 537, 539-40 (1996); Eckard, 460 S.E.2d at 246. [¶ 12] Moe asserts the State had notice that he was incarcerated in Colorado and wanted a speedy disposition of detainers, and this actual notice satisfies the intent and purpose of the IAD. However, actual notice of the prisoner's request alone does not put the State on notice of the information that would be included in the certificate of the official having custody of the prisoner. State v. Smith, 115 N.M. 749, 858 P.2d 416, 420 (Ct.App.1993). There are strong policy reasons for requiring the information in the certificate be provided to the prosecuting state before the IAD is triggered. As the court explained in Isaacs, 358 A.2d at 277-78: We think the provision ... that [t]he request of the prisoner shall be accompanied by a certificate of the appropriate official having custody of the prisoner ... containing the information specified in the statute, is mandatory and not directory. We believe the Legislature so provided because the appropriate State's Attorney would then be in a position to evaluate whether the nature of the charges pending against the accused was of such a severe degree as to merit further trial in this State in the light of the sentence then being served in the other state that was a party to the interstate agreement. If the State's Attorney was of the opinion that the best interests of the people of Maryland lay in pursuing the matter, he could request the production of the accused for trial. On the other hand, if the sentence the prisoner was serving in the other state were such that bringing the accused to trial in Maryland would serve no useful purpose, he could allow the one hundred and eighty (180) day period to lapse, thus, terminating the matter. The certificate allows the prosecutor to make a rational decision whether to prosecute, and the State may, for example, decline to prosecute upon learning the prisoner is already serving a lengthy sentence elsewhere on a more serious charge. See Norton v. Parke, 892 F.2d 476, 481 (6th Cir.1989), cert. denied, 494 U.S. 1060, 110 S.Ct. 1533, 108 L.Ed.2d 772 (1990); Casper, 822 F.2d at 1293; Bass, 320 N.W.2d at 828; Eckard, 460 S.E.2d at 247. [¶ 13] Moe also argues his attempt to comply with the IAD in this case should be sufficient, in accordance with the Act's direction that it be liberally construed so as to effectuate its purposes. IAD Art. IX, N.D.C.C. § 29-34-01. Other courts have rejected similar arguments. In Bass, 320 N.W.2d at 827, the Supreme Court of Iowa noted that [l]iberal construction cannot be used to render null and void the notice and certificate requirements of Article III. Furthermore, [t]he phrase `liberally construed' does not ... mean that courts are free to bend the legislation out of shape or to remold it to some other form. Isaacs, 358 A.2d at 277. Although the IAD must be liberally construed to effectuate its purposes, allowing substantial circumvention of IAD procedures does not serve the IAD's purposes. Eckard, 460 S.E.2d at 247. [¶ 14] We conclude Moe's May 23, 1996 demand for speedy disposition of detainers did not comply with the requirements of the IAD and did not trigger the 180-day period.