Opinion ID: 2367192
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Form of the Decision

Text: Appellants' claim that there must be a written decision with specific findings of fact stating the reasons for detention. Though this is not required by either Gerstein or Edwards, this court, to facilitate its review, does require a written statement or its equivalent, a transcript of the trial court's reasoned holding. Villines v. United States, D.C.App., 312 A.2d 304, 306 (1973). Without a written finding or transcript it is difficult to proceed on the expedited basis contemplated by D.C.Code 1981, § 23-1324(b), and D.C.App.R. 4 III and 9(a). We find the records in these cases sufficient.
Appellants argue that § 1325(a) is void for vagueness because it provides no standard for a judge to determine whether a person would pose a danger to . . . the community. We reject this argument. First, the incorporation of § 1321(b) into § 1325(a) does provide standards to determine whether to release a defendant prior to trial. Second, just as this court concluded in Edwards, supra at 1342-43, that there could be no doubt about the meaning of safety of the community, here we conclude that there can be no doubt about the meaning of the phrase pose a danger to. . . the community. We also reject the overbreadth challenge. Section 1325(a) applies to constitutionally regulable conduct, i.e., detaining an individual who has been found on the basis of a probable cause hearing to have committed first-degree murder, because no combination of conditions will reasonably assure that the person will not flee or pose a danger to any other person or the community. D.C.Code 1981, § 23-1325(a), as amended. Because § 1325(a) only applies to constitutionally regulable conduct, the overbreadth doctrine has no application. Edwards, supra at 1342.
Appellants claim that § 1325(a) deprives individuals charged with first-degree murder of equal protection of the law. Appellants contend that strict scrutiny is required because they have a fundamental right to bail. Strict scrutiny of the legislative classification is not required because appellants do not have a constitutional right to bail. Edwards, supra at 1325-31. The test instead is whether there exists a rational basis for the classification. Section 1325(a) does not deprive appellants of equal protection of the law because the legislature had a rational basis upon which to treat persons charged with first-degree murder differently from persons charged with other crimes. The nature of the offense and its punishment are sufficient for the purpose. We do not consider whether other offenses may be legislatively selected for ordered detention.