Opinion ID: 2120348
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 6

Heading: September 18, 2001, to January 23, 2002 (127 days)

Text: The next excludable period resulted from Appellant's decision to have new counsel appointed, after it was disclosed to him that his counsel, Bret Qualls, had a possible conflict of interest. The matter was brought to the trial court's attention at a hearing on September 13, 2001, five days before the trial was scheduled to start. Mr. Qualls explained that he had recently discovered that another attorney in the public defender's office had previously represented Dwain Brown, one of the prosecution's key witnesses, on a felony non-support charge. The trial judge explained the possible conflict to Appellant. He also stated that he, frankly, did not believe there was an actual conflict. He then told Appellant that he could elect to go with his current counsel and go to trial as scheduled, or he could choose to have new counsel appointed and have his trial postponed. Appellant chose the latter option. Following Appellant's decision, the trial court ruled that speedy trial would be tolled until a new trial date is set and a new lawyer appointed. The trial court reasoned that the delay was not at all the fault of the State. The docket sheet reflects that on September 24, 2001, new counsel, William McLean, was appointed, and the trial was set for January 23, 2002. This court has held that when the defendant is scheduled for trial within the time for speedy trial, and the trial is postponed due to the need for the appointment of new counsel, such delay is excludable for good cause, pursuant to Rule 28.3(h). See Blackwell v. State, 338 Ark. 671, 1 S.W.3d 399 (1999); Lynch v. State, 315 Ark. 47, 863 S.W.2d 834 (1993). Appellant does not specifically contest the exclusion of this time period from the calculation of speedy trial. Instead, he again argues that the trial court was wrong to exclude the delay because there is no contemporaneous written order or docket entry. We again reject this argument, as the delaying act and the reasons therefore have been memorialized by the transcript of the proceedings.