Opinion ID: 310136
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Speedy Trial and Sufficiency Claims

Text: 13 Appellant Brown was arrested in June 1970 and indicted in New York two months later. He was not tried until June 1972 and urges that the indictment should have been dismissed, as he requested below, because this delay deprived him of his right to a speedy trial. We disagree. 14 Although the gap between arrest and trial was two years, there apparently was no purposeful delay and both sides were partly responsible for the slow pace of the proceedings. See Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 531, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). Most significantly, Brown had been scheduled to go to trial in June 1971 with the first group of alleged conspirators, but he requested a severance, which, when granted, led to a substantial delay. Moreover, he demonstrates no constitutionally cognizable prejudice. 13 See id. at 532, 92 S.Ct. 2182. Finally, we note that since the Government was ready for trial in June 1971, there was no violation of this circuit's Rules Regarding Prompt Disposition of Criminal Cases, which went into effect shortly thereafter. 14 15 Appellants Brown and Nash argue that the Government failed to establish-as it must under section 174, see United States v. Agueci, supra note 5-that they knew that the drugs in question had been illegally imported. This argument ignores the evidence that both appellants were at various times in possession of quantities of heroin. As Judge Mishler charged, this is sufficient to justify an inference that they were aware that it had been illegally imported. See, e. g., Turner v. United States, 396 U.S. 398, 408-418, 90 S.Ct. 642, 24 L.Ed.2d 610 (1970). 15