Opinion ID: 1375029
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Denying Motion to Dismiss for Failure to Bring the Case Speedily to Trial

Text: (28a) Defendant contends that the court erroneously denied a motion to dismiss the charges for failure to bring the case to trial speedily. He maintains that the judgment must therefore be reversed on state law grounds. We issued the remittitur in Memro I, supra, 38 Cal.3d 658, on August 1, 1985, and defendant was returned to superior court for retrial on August 21. He waived his right to a speedy trial. Counsel moved for continuances for various purposes and the case was set for trial on November 3, 1986. On June 18, 1986, defendant, acting in propria persona, moved that his case be dismissed for failure to bring it to trial within 60 days in contravention of my guaranteed right to a speedy trial. The court implicitly denied the motion when it referred his letter to counsel for appropriate action and continued to grant counsel continuances. The cause was called to trial on April 1, 1987. At the time of the motion, section 1382 provided that the court, unless good cause to the contrary is shown, must order the action to be dismissed in the following cases: [¶] ... [¶] 2. When a defendant is not brought to trial in a superior court within 60 days after the ... filing of the remittitur in the trial court.... (See also § 1050, subd. (a) [cases should be tried as soon as possible].) (29) We review a decision to grant continuances under section 1382 for an abuse of discretion. ( People v. Johnson (1980) 26 Cal.3d 557, 569-570 [162 Cal. Rptr. 431, 606 P.2d 738, 16 A.L.R.4th 1255] (plur. opn.).) A continuance granted at the request of counsel normally constitutes ... good cause [citation], at least in the absence of evidence showing incompetency of counsel [citation] or circumstances where counsel's request for a continuance is prompted only by the need to [serve] other clients and the defendant himself objects to the delay. [Citation.] ( People v. Wright, supra, 52 Cal.3d 367, 389.) (28b) The court plainly did not abuse its discretion in granting continuances rather than dismissing the charges. Defendant's life was at stake. Given the gravity of the charged crimes, the court and counsel could have believed that a rush to try the case would be a rush to death, and there is evidence that the court did so believe  it told defendant that it cannot permit you, in effect, to commit suicide by insisting upon going to trial within the 60-day period.... There is nothing whatever in the record to show that counsel's requests for continuances were prompted solely by the need to serve other clients. To try to show that this was the case, defendant relies on the declarations of Peter Larkin, his lawyer, that he spent 42 hours preparing for the case from August-November 1985, and 89 1/2 hours from June-December 1986. This, however, is not enough purely by itself to show a lack of diligence as a matter of law, much less to establish a claim that he was motivated solely by the need to [serve] other clients. ( People v. Wright, supra, 52 Cal.3d at p. 389.) Nor is there anything in the record to hint at counsel's incompetence. Rather, our review of the record shows that they were diligent and presented an able defense. They brought important pretrial motions, some of which potentially had significant merit and, if granted, might have benefitted defendant more than anything they could have achieved at trial. In particular, the motion to suppress the confession was crucial, and it was well litigated. Accordingly, the court did not abuse its discretion in implicitly denying the motion to dismiss the charges by continuing to grant continuances. Defendant also contends that the Sixth Amendment required that independent counsel be appointed for the hearings on his motions to dismiss the charges and to remove counsel, and that the guaranty was violated when the court refused to grant either motion. He cites no authority for this proposition save the constitutional provision itself. We are not persuaded.