Opinion ID: 679578
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Denial of Martinson's motion to reschedule his trial

Text: 7 Because of the broad-ranging, almost standardless discretion that a trial court must exercise in scheduling trials, the grant or denial of a [motion to reschedule a trial] is subject to appellate review only for an abuse of discretion. United States v. Stevenson, 6 F.3d 1262, 1265 (7th Cir.1993) (citations omitted). To establish that the district court abused its discretion, Martinson must show that the decision was arbitrary and that it caused him actual prejudice. United States v. Woods, 995 F.2d 713, 716 (7th Cir.1993). Perhaps the heavy burden which Martinson bears with respect to this issue explains the brevity of his argument in his brief. 8 A brief recitation of the circumstances surrounding the district court's decision to deny Martinson's motion demonstrates that its decision neither was arbitrary nor resulted in actual prejudice. On January 29, 1993, Magistrate Judge Goodstein conducted an arraignment and plea hearing in this matter, where Martinson pled not guilty to the charges. At this hearing, Magistrate Judge Goodstein established a schedule for the conduct of further proceedings and announced that Martinson's trial would commence on March 23, 1993, before Judge Evans. On March 11, 1993, Martinson's counsel sent a letter to Judge Evans requesting that the trial be rescheduled. In support of his request, Martinson's counsel stated that his own workload coupled with Martinson's unavailability for a period of several weeks in February left him with insufficient time to prepare Martinson's defense. The government offered no formal objection to this request. Judge Evans denied this request following a March 12, 1993, telephone conversation with counsel. Martinson's counsel renewed the motion at the start of trial on March 23, 1993, which Judge Evans again denied. 9 In denying the motions, Judge Evans noted that Martinson did not object to the trial date at the time it was announced. He further noted that when Martinson requested leave from the court to travel to Australia for several weeks in February, his counsel made no motion to reschedule the trial. Judge Evans also cited as support for his decision to deny the motion his heavy docket and the fact that forty-four venirepersons were waiting for the start of the trial. 10 Martinson's only argument is that since it took the government five years to develop its case, he should have been granted a few weeks to mount his defense. He glosses over the fact that had he stuck around in February, he would not have created the time crunch his counsel experienced in preparing his defense. Judge Evans' reasons, on the record, clearly indicate that his decision was not arbitrary. Martinson, moreover, offers no evidence that he suffered actual prejudice from Judge Evans' decision. Consequently, we hold that Judge Evans appropriately exercised his discretion in denying Martinson's last-minute motions to reschedule his trial.