Opinion ID: 1242476
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Preindictment Delay and Prosecutorial Vindictiveness

Text: Smallwood's claims of preindictment delay and prosecutorial vindictiveness have little merit. The United States Supreme Court has held that the speedy trial clause of the Sixth Amendment is inapplicable to preindictment delay. United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 320, 30 L. Ed.2d 468, 92 S. Ct. 455 (1971). This court has reached the same conclusion in interpreting § 10 of the Bill of Rights of the Kansas Constitution. State v. Trotter, 203 Kan. 31, 453 P.2d 93 (1969). Therefore, if Smallwood is to prevail he must demonstrate a violation of due process. This issue is governed by United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 52 L. Ed.2d 752, 97 S. Ct. 2044 (1977), cited by defendant. In Lovasco, an indictment was returned some 18 months after the offense was allegedly committed. The defense attempted to establish prejudice by showing the delay caused the loss of two defense witnesses. According to the government, the delay resulted from an attempt to uncover additional perpetrators. The lower federal courts concluded that the delay was unjustified, unnecessary, and unreasonable and that the Due Process Clause barred prosecution. The Supreme Court reversed, holding that to prosecute a defendant following investigative delay does not deprive him of due process, even if his defense might have been somewhat prejudiced by the lapse of time. 431 U.S. at 796. A showing of prejudice, while necessary to support a due process claim, is not sufficient in itself. Rather, a due process inquiry must consider the reasons for the delay as well as the prejudice to the accused. 431 U.S. at 790. The Court indicated that governmental delay solely `to gain tactical advantage over the accused' would violate due process. 431 U.S. at 795 (quoting Marion, 404 U.S. at 324). In State v. Royal, 217 Kan. 197, 202, 535 P.2d 413 (1975), we reached the same conclusion, stating: [T]wo questions must be considered in testing whether there has been an impermissible encroachment on due process rights: (1) Has the delay prejudiced the accused in his ability to defend himself, and (2) was the delay a tactical device to gain advantage over him? Affirmative answers to both questions need be supplied before it may be said that criminal charges should be dismissed. For Smallwood to prevail on this claim, he must show not only that he was prejudiced by a delay, but also that the delay was due solely to an attempt by the State to gain a tactical advantage over him. This he has not done. With respect to Smallwood's claim of prosecutorial vindictiveness, in Bordenkircher v. Hayes, 434 U.S. 357, 54 L. Ed.2d 604, 98 S. Ct. 663 (1978), the United States Supreme Court faced a similar claim. After Hayes refused to plead guilty to a felony indictment for uttering a forged instrument, the state prosecutor reindicted the defendant, charging him under the habitual criminal statute and thereby subjecting him to a greater penalty. Hayes was convicted and received the greater penalty. After the state appellate courts affirmed the sentence, the defendant filed a writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court. It was denied. On appeal, the federal Court of Appeals found prosecutorial vindictiveness had occurred and reversed. After granting certiorari, the Supreme Court, in reversing the Court of Appeals, found that the defendant's due process rights were not violated when the prosecutor carried out the threat to reindict the defendant on more serious charges. The Court found it immaterial that the prosecutor was in possession of the evidence justifying the more serious charge at the time of the original indictment and that the defendant's refusal to plead guilty was what led to his second indictment. The prosecutor's conduct did no more than openly present the defendant with the alternative of foregoing trial or facing charges on which he was plainly subject to prosecution. It concluded that there is no violation of due process rights where the State prosecutor, during plea negotiations, threatened to reindict the defendant on more serious charges if he did not plead guilty. 434 U.S. at 365. See United States v. Frederick, 551 F. Supp. 1035 (D. Kan. 1982). Similarly, here, the prosecutor informed Smallwood that he would reindict him on a more serious charge (felony murder) if he refused to plead guilty to second-degree murder. As in Bordenkircher, this charge was one for which Smallwood was plainly subject to prosecution. Therefore, Smallwood's claim of prosecutorial vindictiveness fails.