Opinion ID: 874769
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Did the State Violate Defendant's Constitutional Right to a Speedy Trial?

Text: Defendant contends that he was denied his right to a speedy trial under the State and Federal Constitutions. Article 1, section 13, of the Idaho Constitution provides, In all criminal prosecutions, the party accused shall have the right to a speedy and public trial.... In determining whether a defendant has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial under our State constitution, we have adopted the four-part balancing test used by the United States Supreme Court to determine whether a defendant has been deprived of the right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. State v. Young, 136 Idaho 113, 117, 29 P.3d 949, 953 (2001). Under the Idaho Constitution, the period of delay is measured from the date formal charges are filed or the defendant is arrested, whichever occurs first. Id. [1] The four factors to be balanced are (1) the length of the delay, (2) the reason for the delay, (3) the assertion of accused's right to a speedy trial, and (4) the prejudice to the accused. Id. a. Length of delay. The length of the delay is a triggering mechanism. Until there is some delay which is presumptively prejudicial, it is unnecessary to inquire into the other three factors. Id. [T]he length of delay that will provoke such an inquiry is necessarily dependent upon the circumstances of the case. State v. Holtslander, 102 Idaho 306, 309, 629 P.2d 702, 705 (1981) (quoting Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530-31, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 117 (1972)). The courts consider the complexity of the crime in making the determination as to whether the delay... is uncommonly long.... 21A Am. Jur.2d Criminal Law § 948 (2008). In this case, formal charges were filed on January 9, 2008, and the trial began on January 5, 2009, almost one year later. Considering the crime charged, a delay of almost one year is sufficient to trigger our inquiry into whether Defendant has been denied a speedy trial. b. Reason for delay. The next factor is the reason for the delay. The first trial date was set within about two and one-half months after the information was filed. During that period, Defendant was arrested, had a preliminary hearing in the magistrate court, and was bound over to the district court where he entered a plea of not guilty. The case was then set for trial, giving counsel time within which to prepare. Defendant does not contend that there was any unnecessary delay during this period. The trial was then continued for three months at the request of Defendant, from March 24, 2008, to May 27, 2008, and then to June 23, 2008. The first continuance resulted from the withdrawal of Defendant's retained counsel and the appointment of a public defender on March 12, 2008, who was understandably unable to be prepared for the trial scheduled twelve days later. [2] On May 14, 2008, Defendant elected to represent himself, and the following day he requested a continuance in order to have time for him to prepare to respond to motions filed by the State. He agreed that the trial be rescheduled to June 23, 2008. [3] The State then requested and was granted a two-week continuance of the trial from June 23 to July 7, 2008, so that the prosecuting attorney assigned to the case could attend a previously scheduled conference in San Francisco. On July 2, 2008, the district court heard three motions presented by the State. They were a motion filed on May 15, 2008, to admit as excited utterances the statements made by Child to Mother during the night immediately following the alleged incident; a motion filed on May 15, 2008, to admit into evidence a video-taped interview of Child; and a motion filed on June 10, 2008, to prevent Defendant from personally cross-examining Child. The court took those motions under advisement and stated that the trial would have to be postponed two months in order to have time to rule, especially on the motion to prevent Defendant from personally cross-examining Child. The court rescheduled the trial to September 8, 2008. On August 28, 2008, the court issued an opinion granting the motion preventing Defendant from cross-examining Child and ordering that Defendant's standby counsel conduct the cross examination by reading questions prepared by Defendant. The record on appeal does not indicate that the court issued decisions on the other two motions prior to the trial. There is nothing in the record indicating why it would take two months for the court to decide the motion to prohibit Defendant from cross-examining Child. The State had submitted a memorandum in support of that motion on June 10, 2008, three weeks in advance of the July 2 hearing. Defendant did not submit a memorandum in opposition. At the hearing, the prosecutor did not present any additional argument. He simply stated that the preferable manner of handling the situation would be to have Child testify over closed-circuit television, and if that could not be done then there was case law supporting having standby counsel ask questions prepared by a pro se defendant. In response, Defendant stated that he had no objection to his identity being concealed from Child either by altering his voice or not showing him to Child, but he did object to not being able to ask the questions. He stated that it would inhibit his ability to cross-examine Child because he would have to be writing questions while standby counsel was asking a question, and he would be losing track of what Child was saying and would not be able to watch his body language. The court ultimately ordered that Child would testify by closed-circuit television and that Defendant would not be able to speak during Child's testimony. There is simply nothing in the record indicating why the court could not have made that decision prior to the July 7 trial date. On August 18, 2008, the State filed a motion to postpone the trial to a date between December 13, 2008, and January 11, 2009, on the ground that witnesses from Illinois and Minnesota would not be available until after December 13, 2008. Those witnesses were expected to testify about Defendant's conduct that resulted in his two child sexual abuse convictions in Illinois. One witness would testify that in 1992 when he was five years of age Defendant sexually molested him, and the other would testify that in 1999 she caught Defendant sexually molesting her four-year-old son. The State also intended to produce evidence that in 1986 Defendant sexually molested a five-year-old boy in Bonneville County, Idaho. [4] The prosecutor stated that considering Child's age the State could not go forward without those witnesses. In support of the motion, the prosecutor also asserted: Your Honor, these people, neither are sophisticated. I've had to convince them that they could fly in an airplane and that Idaho Falls was a safe location. And the 20-year-old's mother is extremely worried. And I have been on the phone numerous times convincing them that we would take care of her son. And so like I said, this isn't athese aren't sophisticated people, Your Honor, that are used to flying around the country, you know, in a week or two notice. The district court then granted the continuance and rescheduled the trial to commence on January 5, 2009. The delay of about six and one-half months from June 23, 2008, to January 5, 2009, is attributable solely to the State. At the August 27, 2008, hearing on the State's motion to continue the trial for convenience of the out-of-state witnesses, the prosecutor stated that the witnesses had been prepared to come for the trial that had been scheduled on July 7, 2008. That trial was vacated sua sponte by the district court on the ground that it needed two months to decide whether to grant the State's motion to prevent Defendant from personally cross-examining Child. It is the State's burden to provide a speedy trial. State v. Holtslander, 102 Idaho 306, 311, 629 P.2d 702, 707 (1981). The court, as a State actor, has an obligation to dispose of matters within a reasonable time so as to not infringe upon a defendant's right to a speedy trial. The record does not reflect that it was necessary for the court to vacate the trial scheduled on July 7, 2008, to give the court time to rule upon the State's motion to prevent Defendant from cross-examining Child. Since the State's out-of-state witnesses would have been available to testify on July 7 had the district court not vacated that trial date sua sponte, that delay is attributed to the State, as is the delay caused by the asserted need to vacate the trial again for the convenience of those witnesses. However, there is no indication that the delay attributable to the State was for the purpose of hampering the defense. The delays attributable to the State reflect merely negligence in preparation possibly resulting from indifference to Defendant's right to a speedy trial. Although delay resulting from negligence must be considered, it is a more neutral reason that is weighed less heavily than delay intended to hamper the defense. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 531, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 117 (1972). c. Assertion by Defendant of right to a speedy trial. Defendant first asserted his right to a speedy trial when the district court sua sponte vacated the trial scheduled on July 7, 2008, and rescheduled the trial to September 8, 2008. Defendant asked, Your Honor, I just have one question. Does that affect my right to a speedy trial? The court responded, Well, your right to a speedy trial is to be tried within six months of the Information, unless there's good cause otherwise. The court was apparently concerned about the statutory right to a speedy trial, and not Defendant's constitutional right. The court also stated that it found good cause to try Defendant more than six months after the information was filed because of the intricacies of this defense and the process of trying to work through the prosecution and the defense. The court did not mention what the intricacies of the defense were. The only defense raised by Defendant was pleading not guilty and requiring the State to prove the alleged crime. Because the court had already ruled on all of Defendant's motions, the intricacies of this defense apparently referred to the fact that Defendant was representing himself and the State had asked to prevent Defendant from cross-examining Child. During argument on the State's motion to continue the September 8, 2008, trial, Defendant again raised the issue of his right to a speedy trial. He objected to the continuance and, when asked to state his objection, said that he would have to go through the expense of serving subpoenas again and arranging for other witnesses to appear voluntarily. He then stated, And the prosecutor is asking for a three-and-a-half-month continuance, which I'll have to spend in jail. In granting the motion, the district court stated: I'd note the defendant has not raised a speedy trial issue here. It's just a matter of he wants to get it over with. And that's understandable. The court failed to appreciate that not wanting to spend additional time in pretrial incarceration and wanting to get the matter resolved are speedy trial issues. The interests that the right to a speedy trial is designed to protect include: (1) to prevent oppressive pretrial incarceration[ and] (2) to minimize anxiety and concern of the accused. State v. Young, 136 Idaho 113, 118, 29 P.3d 949, 954 (2001). d. Prejudice to Defendant. The final factor to be weighed is prejudice to Defendant. Prejudice is to be assessed in light of the interests of defendants which the right to a speedy trial is designed to protect. Id. The first two interests are stated above. With respect to pretrial incarceration, Defendant was in jail throughout the pretrial proceedings. With respect to Defendant's anxiety and concern, as the district court stated, Defendant also wanted to get the matter over with. However, the record does not reflect the degree to which Defendant was experiencing anxiety and concern regarding other areas of his life. Defendant argues that he obviously could not work or spend time with his family; he lived under a cloud of suspicion and he had to contend with the anxiety of waiting nearly twelve months for his trial, not knowing whether he might walk out of jail a free men [sic].... He does not point to anything in the record indicating that he had a job prior to his incarceration or could have obtained a job, or that he had family members with whom he could have spent time. Likewise, he does not point to anything in the record indicating the extent, if any, to which the pending charge was known by others so as to create a cloud of suspicion. The third factor is to limit the possibility that the defense will be impaired. Id. This third factor is the most serious because the inability of a defendant adequately to prepare his case skews the fairness of the entire system. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 532, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2193, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 118 (1972). An incarcerated defendant may be hindered in his ability to gather evidence, contact witnesses, or otherwise prepare his defense. Defendant contends that he suffered prejudice under the third factor, but the examples he relies upon are not related to his inability to prepare adequately. He cites differences between Child's testimony at trial and his testimony at the preliminary hearing, and conflicting testimony given by Child at trial. However, there is nothing to indicate that those differences were related to any delay in the trial. Rather, the inconsistencies and conflicting statements cited primarily reflect the difficulty of questioning a six-year-old witness. [5] Defendant also argues that if the trial had not been postponed, the State would not have been able to have the out-of-state witnesses testify about Defendant's prior sexual abuse of a four-year-old boy and a five-year-old boy. Prejudice does not mean that the delay resulted in evidence being admitted that otherwise would not have been available. [A]lmost all evidence in a criminal trial is demonstrably admitted to prove the case of the state, and thus results in prejudice to a defendant. State v. Leavitt, 116 Idaho 285, 290, 775 P.2d 599, 604 (1989). Delay necessary to obtain witness testimony is not the type of prejudice that is relevant to this inquiry. As the Supreme Court stated, [A] valid reason, such as a missing witness, should serve to justify appropriate delay. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 531, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 117 (1972). Defendant also argues that he was prejudiced by the delay because this evidence should not have been admitted. Defendant did not object to the evidence. Whether that evidence would have been admissible had there been a proper objection is not before us on appeal. Considering the four factors, we conclude that Defendant's rights to a speedy trial under the State and Federal Constitutions were not violated.