Opinion ID: 2330804
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: State v. Beard

Text: The respondent James Michael Beard was charged in the District Court of Maryland with driving or attempting to drive a motor vehicle while intoxicated or impaired and refusing to sign a citation. He elected a jury trial, and the case was transferred to the Circuit Court for Harford County for trial. The appearance of Beard's attorney was entered in the circuit court on June 19, 1981. Therefore the 180-day period for trying Beard, prescribed by § 591 and Rule 746, expired on December 16, 1981. Following some earlier postponements of assigned trial dates, both upon the defendant's motion and by the court sua sponte, the trial was rescheduled for December 15, 1981, which was the 179th day after the appearance of defense counsel. On December 15th the county administrative judge (Close, J.) sua sponte ordered a postponement. The order, as entered on the docket, stated that the postponement was required due to the unavailability of [a] Judge or Jury to hear [the] case. A new trial date of February 24, 1982, was assigned. On the morning of February 24th, prior to the commencement of trial that day, the defendant filed a written motion to dismiss for violation of § 591 and Rule 746, arguing that the postponement from December 15th to February 24th was unsupported by good cause. The trial judge denied the motion, holding that there had been good cause for the postponement. Trial was then held, and the defendant Beard was convicted of driving while impaired and refusing to sign a citation. He was fined $500.00 and sentenced to sixty days in jail, with thirty days suspended and the remaining thirty days to be served on work-release. On appeal, the only issue raised by Beard was the contention that the charges should have been dismissed because of the claimed violation of § 591 and Rule 746. The Court of Special Appeals, agreeing with Beard, reversed in an unreported opinion. The appellate court held that there was not good cause for the postponement on December 15th. The court stated that the unavailability of judicial resources on the scheduled dates of trial may constitute good cause for a postponement only [u]nder certain extenuating circumstances, and that these extenuating circumstances are not present in this case.