Opinion ID: 554968
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Walker's Motion to Dismiss

Text: 25 Walker's motion to dismiss asserted that his right under the IAD to be brought to trial within the 120-day time period was violated. Walker arrived on November 9, 1989 in the District of Maine and he disputes the government's contention that the time between Walker's filing of his various motions and the courts resolution of those motions were properly excluded from the 120-day time period. 26 The IAD sets forth the procedures for temporarily transferring a prisoner incarcerated in one jurisdiction to the custody of another jurisdiction to resolve criminal charges pending in the receiving jurisdiction. United States v. Taylor, 861 F.2d 316, 318 (1st Cir.1988). [T]he agreements motivating purpose [is] to be encouragement of the 'expeditious and orderly detention' of outstanding charges. Id. at 318 (quoting Art. I.) Article IV(c) of the IAD provides that [i]n respect to any proceeding made possible by this article, trial shall be commenced within 120 days of the arrival of the prisoner in the receiving state ... However, the article also provides that: 27 (a) In determining the duration and expiration of dates of the time periods provided in Article III and IV of this agreement, the running of said time periods shall be tolled whenever and for as long as the prisoner is unable to stand trial, as determined by the court having jurisdiction on this matter. (emphasis supplied). 28 Courts have consistently applied this language to exclude all those time periods of delay occasioned by the defendant. Taylor, 861 F.2d at 321 (citations omitted). Moreover, the time it takes the court to resolve matters raised by the defendant, have been held by the courts to not be chargeable in the 120-day time limitation. Id. 29 This circuit has also held that a defendant's motion will toll the IAD clock until the court resolves the motion when: 30 (a) the prisoner fails to alert the court to the IAD's applicability, (b) the time taken by the court for resolving the matter would be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, and (c) the delay is neither in bad faith nor offensive to notions of justice. 31 Id. at 322. 32 The IAD clock in this case began to run on November 9, 1989 when Walker arrived in the District of Maine. See Article IV(c). On December 11, 1989, 32 days later, Walker filed a motion to extend the time for filing his pretrial motions. This motion, like the subsequent suppression motion, did not refer to the IAD. It was granted on December 12, 1989. Under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. Sec. 3161(h)(1)(F), delay resulting from any pretrial motion, from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hearing on, or other prompt disposition of, such motion is excluded from computation. This Court has consistently held that the filing a motion stops the clock under the Speedy Trial Act. See United States v. Rush, 738 F.2d 497, 502 (1st Cir.1984); United States v. Mitchell, 723 F.2d 1040, 1046-47 (1st Cir.1983). 33 On December 19, 1989, the IAD clock was also stopped when Walker filed his motion to suppress. On February 15, 1990, the Magistrate issued his recommended decision to deny the motion to suppress, but since the decision does not become final until the district court acts on it, the IAD clock continued to be stopped. The defendant's request for a de novo review of the Magistrate's recommendations was another independent event which stopped the tolling of the IAD clock. Therefore, it was not until March 30, 1990 when the district court issued its order, that the IAD clock began to run again. By the time Walker asserted his rights under the IAD on March 15, 1990, only 30 to 32 days could be chargeable to his 120-day time period. 34 We note that the time required to resolve the pretrial motions that stopped the IAD clock in this case was neither extended in bad faith nor offensive to notions of justice. See United States v. Taylor, 861 F.2d at 322. Based on the above, we find that less than 35 days were chargeable to the time limit under the IAD clock and therefore Walker's rights under the IAD were not violated. 1 35 We affirm the conviction.