Opinion ID: 1099739
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 22

Heading: Whether a thirty-year delay in prosecution violated the appellants right to speedy trial, due process and right against double jeopardy.

Text: ś 103. The brothers assert that the indictment and trial delay of almost thirty years denied them their right to due process and a speedy trial. Pool was killed on April 12, 1970. The brothers were indicted in 1970. However, the circuit court order granted nolle prosequi on July 20, 1970. It was not until July 31, 1998, that the brothers along with Newton and Watson were re-indicted. All three brothers were found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to twenty years imprisonment. According to the brothers, this delay of almost thirty years prejudiced them. The brothers claim that dimming memories of both potential witnesses and themselves in addition to the unavailability of potentially exculpatory witnesses has prejudiced their cases. ś 104. While the brothers cite speedy trial, due process and double jeopardy violations in their issue caption, the brief only addresses the due process claim. In fact, the brothers point out that speedy trial assertions only apply to those periods of time when a defendant is charged with an offense. Beckwith v. State, 707 So.2d 547, 565 (Miss.1997). The brothers were charged from April to July 1970 at which time an order of nolle prosequi was entered. Then in July, 1998 the brothers were re-indicted and had their trial in November 1999. Furthermore, a pre-indictment delay is generally predicated on the statutes of limitation. However, murder carries no such time limitation. See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5 (2000). Accordingly, the brothers analyze the oppressive delay under the due process clauses of the United States and Mississippi Constitutions. ś 105. Nevertheless, we will address the speedy trial and double jeopardy issues. In accordance with Beckwith v. State, 707 So.2d at 568, the time between the nolle prosequi order in 1970 and the re-indictment of July 1998, is reviewed not under speedy trial rights, but rather by due process and the applicable statute of limitations. ś 106. This Court in Beckwith stated the following: The United States Supreme Court in United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1, 7, 102 S.Ct. 1497, 1501, 71 L.Ed.2d 696 (1982) held: [T]he Speedy Trial Clause has no application after the government, acting in good faith, formally drops charges. Any undue delay after charges are dismissed, like any delay before charges are filed, must be scrutinized under the Due Process Clause, not the Speedy Trial Clause. The Court in MacDonald also said: The Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is thus not primarily intended to prevent prejudice to the defense caused by passage of time; that interest is protected primarily by the Due Process Clause and by statutes of limitation. 456 U.S. at 8, 102 S.Ct. at 1502. See also United States v. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. 302, 106 S.Ct. 648, 88 L.Ed.2d 640 (1986). Beckwith v. State, 707 So.2d at 568. Based on case law, it is clear that once the order for nolle prosequi was entered on July 20, 1970, the Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial no longer had relevance to the case. From the point in which the 1970 order was entered until the time of re-indictment in 1998, the legal analysis is viewed by a due process and the statute of limitation claim rather than a speedy trial issue. Beckwith v. State, 707 So.2d at 568. ś 107. In regard to any double jeopardy claim, this Court has held that re-indictment for the same offense after an order of Nolle prosequi does not bar prosecution. State v. Shumpert, 723 So.2d 1162, 1164 (Miss.1998)(citing Beckwith v. State, 615 So.2d 1134, 1147-48 (Miss.1992)). In Shumpert, this Court further found that: Legal precedent in the State of Mississippi is clear that the State can re-indict an accused for the same offense after an order of nolle prosequi has been entered. See State v. Kennedy, 96 Miss. 624, 50 So. 978 (1910); State v. Thornhill, 251 Miss. 718, 723, 171 So.2d 308, 310 (1965). In short, `where a nolle prosequi is entered the particular case is at end on the docket, but this does not bar another prosecution for the same offense if commenced in the court where the case originated, as was done in the instant case.' Walton v. City of Tupelo, 229 Miss. 193, 196, 90 So.2d 193, 195 (1956). State v. Shumpert, 723 So.2d at 1164. Consequently, the brother's re-indictment in 1998 was not barred by the earlier circuit court order of nolle prosequi. ś 108. Since the speedy trial and 1998 indictment for the same offense are not relevant issues before this Court, we will direct the rest of the discussion to the assertion that the brothers were subject to an oppressive delay pursuant to an alleged violation of the right to due process. ś 109. The statute of limitations is considered along with due process in an undue delay claim. In the instant case, the brothers were indicted for murder. As noted above, murder has no statute of limitations. See Miss.Code Ann. § 99-1-5. Therefore, the brothers carry the burden of persuasion for the pre-indictment analysis of the undue delay and due process claim. Beckwith v. State, 707 So.2d at 569 (citing Hooker v. State, 516 So.2d 1349, 1351 (Miss.1987)). Accordingly, the following two-prong test applies for demonstrating a due process violation: In United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 324, 92 S.Ct. 455, 465, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971) and United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 795-96, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 2051, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977) the Supreme Court held that to sustain the burden of establishing that a due process violation has occurred, the defendant must show that (1) the preindictment delay caused actual prejudice to the defendant, and (2) such delay was an intentional device used by the government to obtain a tactical advantage over the accused. See United States v. Wehling, 676 F.2d 1053, 1059 (5th Cir.1982). To establish that actual prejudice has occurred, this Court in United States v. Shaw, 555 F.2d 1295 (5th Cir.1977), delineated certain factors to be considered in evaluating the effect of delay on a due process claim. According to Shaw, our due process analysis must focus on factors such as the length of the delay, the reason for the delay and the prejudice which the delay may have caused the accused. Id. at 1299. Hooker v. State, 516 So.2d 1349, 1351 (Miss.1987). This Court reaffirmed the two-prong test in its analysis in Beckwith, 707 So.2d at 569. ś 110. The brothers assert under the first prong that the preindictment delay had prejudiced them. Among other things, the brothers cite the fact that memories are dimmed with time, and many witnesses are either dead or no longer available to testify. Further, the brothers claim that the case file no longer contains information regarding other witnesses who were present at the beating and could aid in the corroboration of the brothers' rendition of events. The brothers also argue that the physical evidence has degraded making the exact cause of death indeterminable. As to the second prong of the test, the brothers assert that the prosecution delay was not based on any legitimate investigative need nor was there any new evidence. ś 111. During the hearing on this matter, no proof was provided to the trial court for a ruling. Accordingly, the issue is barred from further review by this Court. Notwithstanding the bar, the brothers still fail to overcome the two-prong test with the assertions in their brief. As this Court recognized in Beckwith, [v]ague assertions of lost witnesses, faded memories, or misplaced documents are insufficient to establish a due process violation from preindictment delay. Beckwith, 707 So.2d at 570 (citing United States v. Harrison, 918 F.2d 469, 474 (5th Cir.1990)). As for the assertion that the physical evidence had degraded to the point that it is impossible to determine the exact cause of death, the testimony does not necessarily support this claim. The original physician that performed Pool's autopsy in 1970, Steckler, and the current State forensic pathologist, Dr. Hayne, both testified at trial. In addition to the original 1970 autopsy report, both physicians also reviewed some of Pool's tissue slides, which had been preserved from 1970 and recut from paraffin blocks. While there may have been some disagreement as to the exact cause of death, there was preserved physical evidence. Quite often the exact cause of death is undetermined, rather, as in this case, there is testimony that indicates the cause of death only within a degree of reasonable medical certainty. ś 112. Finally, the brothers have not proved an intentional delay to gain tactical advantage. The order stated that the State on its motion to the court requested permission to enter the nolle prosequi in 1970. The court cited that the request was upon the grounds that witnesses who have heretofore given information and at present are unwilling to testify concerning the facts in each of said causes, constituting a failure in the State's evidence, and it appearing said motion is well taken and should be granted. The court papers, also, contain news articles which suggest that the district attorney's office examined Pool's death after a person claiming to be a relative of Pool called the district attorney's office. Once the district attorney began to look at the case, he found that the case was not fully processed. In another article, the district attorney indicated that it was his belief that a confession was erroneously suppressed by the circuit court in 1970. Clearly, there was no tactical advantage gained by the State in delaying the trials. This issue is without merit.