Opinion ID: 1966073
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Motion to Dismiss for Lack of a Speedy Trial

Text: Mr. Bido alleges that the trial justice improperly denied his motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. On May 22, 2006, the day on which the trial was scheduled to begin, defendant appeared before the trial justice while represented by counsel. The following colloquy occurred between Mr. Bido and the trial justice, part of which was aided by an interpreter: THE DEFENDANT: Before we begin, I would like to tell something to the Judge. THE COURT: Well, now, before you say anything at all, sir, let me caution you that anything that you say could be used against you at a trial in this matter. You're represented by counsel at this point, and I would suggest that if you wish to have something directed to me, that you have your attorney do it.    THE DEFENDANT: I wanted you, your Honor, because I want to find another lawyer or somebody, because how I go to start with  THE COURT: Let me ask you this. Would you object to [your attorney] telling me what your desires are? THE DEFENDANT: Yeah, I do.    THE [defendant through] INTERPRETER: I don't want him to represent me in the State because too many things, we have communications, I don't want him to send me to trial like that because, you know, today he told me he got one offer to me, the first time I hear about an offer.    [THE defendant through INTEPRETER:] I don't feel really comfortable with him representing me. I been in prison three times for the same case already. I've never rejected coming here at any point. I don't know why they release me. I lived 15 years in the same street, the same house with the same lady; filing security tax, the same name. Why didn't they arrest me before I went to renew my green card at immigration before? And right there they arrested me and told me that the case was still open. And then they arrested me and then they released me back there. And then I kept coming back to court during those three months, and three months later they came back and arrested me again. And I been here for eight and a half months or so. The first time, I was five and a half months there waiting for them to come. And the second time they arrested me, I was there in prison for four days. So, I don't know what is happening right now. I have never been that type of person that they accuse me of. Before this Court, Mr. Bido argues that his statement to the trial justice can and should be characterized as a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial and that the trial justice erred by denying such motion. Mr. Bido contends that the information he provided to the trial justice, in particular the fact that he was arrested and released three times in New York and the fact that he lived at the same address under his lawful name and filed tax returns throughout the fifteen years before trial, effectively constituted a speedy-trial motion. In response, the state argues that defendant made a request for a continuance to seek new counsel, not a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. The state contends that Mr. Bido made his statements about his whereabouts in New York quite plainly in the context of his explanation about why he wanted a new lawyer. As a general matter, this Court reviews de novo a trial justice's ultimate determination that a defendant's constitutional right to a speedy trial has not been violated. State v. Perez, 882 A.2d 574, 590-91 (R.I.2005). However, as we have stated many times, this Court's raise-orwaive rule precludes our consideration of an issue that has not been raised and articulated at trial. E.g. State v. Brown, 915 A.2d 1279, 1282 (R.I.2007); State v. Ibrahim, 862 A.2d 787, 795 (R.I.2004). It is well settled that a litigant cannot raise an objection or advance a new theory on appeal if it was not raised before the trial court. Hydro-Manufacturing, Inc. v. Kayser-Roth Corp., 640 A.2d 950, 959 (R.I. 1994). This directive will not be disturbed unless basic constitutional rights are concerned. State v. Gomez, 848 A.2d 221, 237 (R.I.2004) (quoting State v. Donato, 592 A.2d 140, 141 (R.I.1991)). In those cases, the alleged error must be more than harmless, and the exception must implicate an issue of constitutional dimension derived from a novel rule of law that could not reasonably have been known to counsel at the time of trial. State v. Breen, 767 A.2d 50, 57 (R.I.2001) (citing State v. Gomes, 690 A.2d 310, 319 (R.I.1997)). [Al motion upon which a trial justice has not ruled presents no question for review by this Court. State v. Abreu, 899 A.2d 473, 476 (R.I.2006). Our cases indicate that the moving, party at the trial court level must articulate the motion in an understandable manner for the trial justice. See Smiler v. Napolitano, 911 A.2d 1035, 1041 (R.I.2006) (finding that an argument was waived when [t]he record is clear that even the motion justice understood that the only issue before him was the constitutionality of [a statute]); State v. Hazard, 797 A.2d 448, 458-59 (R.12002) (ruling that the party properly preserved an objection when the trial justice clearly understood the basis of the challenge to the testimony of a particular witness). This Court will not fault a trial justice for failing to rule upon a question that was not presented to him [or her] in a rational and recognizable posture. State v. Fogarty, 433 A.2d 972, 974 (R.I.1981). A necessary implication of defendant's assignment of error in this case is that the trial justice erred by not recognizing his remarks as a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Much is' expected of our trial justices; we will not, however, fault them for a failure of clairvoyance. It is clear from the transcript that the trial justice understood Mr. Bido's remarks as only a request for a continuance so that he could obtain new counsel. Yet after the trial justice-denied the motion for a continuance, neither Mr. Bido nor his counsel attempted to articulate or clarify the purported motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial. Moreover, immediately after Mr. Bido concluded his statement and before ruling on it, the trial justice asked, Is there anything either of the attorneys want to add? To that question defendant's counsel succinctly responded, No, Judge. Nor did Mr. Bido or his counsel ever request an evidentiary hearing. A defendant's own representations, not made under oath, does not provide a sufficient factual predicate for a trial justice to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial, particularly when, as here, it was not clear to either the trial justice or the prosecution that such a motion was being advanced. If defendant intended to make a motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial, he did not put forth his argument in a rational and recognizable posture to the trial justice. Mr. Bido's remarks about the delay in his prosecution all are couched in his assertion that I don't feel really comfortable with [the court appointed attorney] representing me. We will not ascribe error to the trial justice for failing to divine a lack of a speedy trial motion from Mr. Bido's remarks to the court. The exception to the raise-or-waive rule is of no assistance to defendant. A motion to dismiss for lack of a speedy trial is not an issue of constitutional dimension derived from a novel rule of law that could not reasonably have been known to counsel at the time of trial. Breen, 767 A.2d at 57 (citing Gomes, 690 A.2d at 319). The right to a speedy trial to those accused of committing a criminal offense is guaranteed by both the federal and state constitutions. U.S. Const. Amend. VI; R.I. Const. art. 1, sec. 10. It is not a novel rule of law. We conclude therefore that the issue has not been preserved for our review.