Opinion ID: 2994211
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Avery’s Motion To Continue The Trial

Text: On October 16, 1998, the last business day before his trial, Avery requested a continuance of the trial date. The District Court denied the motion and the trial began the following Monday, October 19th, as scheduled. Avery claims that this denial was an abuse of discretion and resulted in a violation of his due process right to a fair trial. To establish that the District Court abused its discretion, Avery must show that the denial of the continuance was arbitrary, and that actual prejudice resulted. United States v. Withers, 972 F.2d 837, 845 (7th Cir. 1992). Factors relevant to our determination include (1) the amount of time available for preparation, (2) the likelihood of prejudice from denial, (3) the defendant’s role in shortening the effective preparation time, (4) the degree of complexity of the case, (5) the availability of discovery from the prosecution, (6) the likelihood the continuance would satisfy the movant’s needs, and (7) the inconvenience to the court. Schwensow, 151 F.3d at 656 (citations omitted). Avery concentrates primarily on the first and second of these factors. He argues that he had precious little time to prepare, having gotten the court’s approval to represent himself only the Friday before the Monday trial date. Avery claims he would have used the time granted for a short continuance to complete his review of the Federal Rules of Evidence and the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the documents produced by the prosecution to his prior attorneys, among other things. We are not persuaded by any of these arguments because the record reveals that Avery had been preparing to represent himself long before the Friday hearing. He discharged his first lawyer because the lawyer prevented him from assisting in his own defense and because the lawyer failed to file several motions Avery had prepared. Later, he filed a motion requesting to be appointed co-counsel so that he could dictate trial strategy. He even filed a pro se motion to suppress several weeks before trial, while he was still represented by counsel. And he brought ten self-prepared motions with him to the Faretta hearing. He was obviously very well versed in his case and additional time would hardly have been necessary. We also point out that this was not a case of great complexity. To make its case, the government needed only to prove that Avery was a convicted felon, that he had possessed a firearm on the dates alleged in the indictment, that the guns had been in interstate commerce, and that it was Avery who filled out ATF Form 4473 denying he had been convicted of a crime which carried a possible sentence of more than one year. This case had already been pending three months and any evidence needed to negate those elements could easily have been obtained by the October 19, 1998 trial date. We remind Avery that the situation about which he now complains was brought about entirely by his own actions. His decision to dismiss his lawyer on the eve of trial and proceed pro se was a decision he made at his own peril. It was not an abuse of discretion by the court to deny Avery’s motion for additional time. The order of the District Court denying Avery’s motion to continue trial is affirmed.