Opinion ID: 2236587
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: issues

Text: Defendants contend that they were denied their rights to a speedy trial under Ind.R.Crim.P. 4(C) and under the State and Federal Constitutions. The record shows that trial counsel made no motion for discharge at any time prior to the trial, despite the seventeen (17) month incarceration of his clients. Appellate counsel, who also represented Defendants at the proceedings after trial, filed a motion for discharge pursuant to Rule 4(C) after the trial. Such a motion was not timely. A summary of the record as set out in the State's Brief shows that defense counsel acquiesced to the setting of trial for a date beyond the one year limit and thus waived his incarcerated clients' rights under Rule 4(C). [1] Little v. State, (1981) Ind., 415 N.E.2d 44, 46; State ex rel. Wernke v. Hendricks Superior Court, (1976) 264 Ind. 646, 650, 348 N.E.2d 644, 647; Snelling v. State, (1975) 163 Ind. App. 546, 550, 325 N.E.2d 227, 230; State v. Henry, (1975) 163 Ind. App. 305, 323 N.E.2d 258. See Utterback v. State, (1974) 261 Ind. 685, 687, 310 N.E.2d 552, 553-54. In their brief, Defendants attach some significance to trial counsel's April 16, 1979 objection to a continuance until April 30, 1979, the date of trial; however, the ground for the continuance, a congested calendar, is specifically provided for by Criminal Rule 4(C). Fortson v. State, (1978) 269 Ind. 161, 166, 379 N.E.2d 147, 151. In determining whether or not there has been a constitutional violation of the right to a speedy trial, the court must consider the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his right, and the prejudice, if any, to the defendant. Barker v. Wingo (1972) 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 117. The task of balancing these factors is a difficult one; however the United States Supreme Court appears to assign great weight to the third factor: We emphasize that failure to assert the right will make it difficult for a defendant to prove that he was denied a speedy trial. Id. at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193, 33 L.Ed.2d at 117-18. Defendants argue very forcefully that they were severely prejudiced by the delay. During their incarceration they matured in age, height, and weight, so that at the time of trial they perfectly matched the prosecutrix's descriptions of her assailants. At the time of the incident, Defendants were two years younger, and each was approximately six inches shorter, and forty pounds lighter. Also at trial, Defendant Harper's alibi witnesses could not remember the exact date upon which he had been in a fight and had sustained a very noticeable injury to his mouth. The prosecutrix admitted that she was close enough to her assailants to see their faces but she did not see any bruise or notice anything unusual on their faces. Additionally, she testified that her memory of the event had improved with time and that she was more certain of her assailants' identities at trial. Against the prejudicial effect of the delay we must weigh a record, which shows that continuances were had with the knowledge and agreement of Defendants and at the behest of defense counsel, for personal reasons  he was not prepared for trial and he was later not available for trial  and by reason of a congested calendar. We cannot say that these continuances were unduly long under the circumstances. Defense counsel deposed the prosecutrix during one continuance and the other was necessitated by his eye surgery and recuperative difficulties. The record shows that Defendants were aware of trial counsel's eye problems, and that they did not assert to the trial court that they were dissatisfied with his representation prior to trial. Issue I, supra. In their Brief Defendants would have us attribute their delay in coming to trial to indifference on the part of the bureaucracy responsible for bringing the case to trial. They make much of the State's standing by as the case was delayed, which delay, from the point of view of hindsight, gave the State what it lacked the most, Defendants who matched the victim's descriptions of her assailants. However, Defendants do not tell us what tactics the State should have used in responding to trial counsel's requests for continuances. They cite no authority, and we have found none, which requires the State to oppose defense counsel's request for a continuance, as part of its obligation to bring the defendant to trial in a timely manner. In light of these circumstances, we cannot say that Defendants were denied their constitutional rights to a speedy trial.