Court Opinion

ID: 9430248
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-02 23:29:20.453659+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:23:23.898118
License: Public Domain

Justice Blackmun,
with whom Justice Brennan joins, concurring in the judgment.
I concur in the result the Court reaches and therefore in its judgment. The Court today holds that the Speedy Trial Act does not mandate a new 30-day defense-preparation period following return of a superseding indictment. I agree with the Court that that holding is strongly guided by the express purpose of the Speedy Trial Act. But because I find neither the language of the Act particularly clear nor its legislative history at all helpful, I refrain from joining the opinion’s statutory analysis.
The term “superseding indictment” refers to a second indictment issued in the absence of a dismissal of the first. The Act nowhere refers to a superseding indictment, and seems to assume that dismissal of the first indictment will precede issuance of the second. See 18 U. S. C. §§ 3161(d)(1) and 3161(h)(6). Section 3161(c)(2), which establishes the 30-day defense-preparation period “from the date on which the defendant first appears through counsel,” therefore can provide only the starting point of the inquiry. The question *238before the Court is whether that language may be interpreted to refer to the defendant’s appearance on the indictment upon which he ultimately goes to trial, or whether one must read that language to refer to the defendant’s appearance on the first indictment. Despite the fact that the legislative history of the Act is of no assistance,1 we are guided in our task by the purpose and the structure of the Act.
The Speedy Trial Act “gave effect to a Federal defendant’s right to speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment and acknowledged the danger to society represented by accused persons on bail for prolonged periods of time.” H. R. Rep. No. 96-390, p. 3 (1979). To accomplish these goals, the Act provides strict time limits for each stage of the criminal trial process. The Act, as amended, requires that a defendant be brought to trial within 70 days of his first appearance through *239counsel. See 18 U. S. C. § 3161(c)(1). For 30 of those days, the Government cannot proceed to trial, in order that the defendant may prepare his case.
Because the criminal process does not always proceed in a linear fashion, the Act addresses second indictments that occur, unlike in this case, following dismissal of the first indictment. When an indictment is dismissed on motion of the defendant, and the defendant is thereafter reindicted, both the 30-day and 70-day periods run anew. See 18 U. S. C. § 3161(d)(1). In contrast, however, when an indictment is dismissed on motion of the Government, and the defendant is thereafter reindicted, both the 30-day and 70-day periods continue to run from the first indictment, with the proviso that the period during which no indictment is outstanding is excluded from the 70-day calculation. See 18 U. S. C. § 3161(h)(6). The difference in treatment protects against governmental circumvention of the speedy-trial guarantee.
Neither of these reindictment provisions applies here, because the second indictment was issued in the absence of dismissal of the first. The provisions demonstrate, however, that the 30-day and 70-day periods were intended to operate in tandem; where one runs anew, so should the other. In this case, therefore, the structure of the statute suggests that either both periods should continue to run upon issuance of a superseding indictment, or both should start anew. To permit a new 30-day period, but not a new 70-day period, could lead to a result surely not intended by Congress, namely, that there is no day on which a defendant could be brought to trial. To avoid that possibility, respondent argues that the second 30-day period could simply be excluded from the continuing 70-day period in which a defendant must be brought to trial. But the Act’s comprehensive list of express exclusions counsels one to read Congress’ failure to exclude certain periods of time as a considered judgment that those periods are to be included in the speedy-trial *240calculation, or as a recognition that the need for such an exclusion will not arise under the statutory scheme.
In light of Congress’ intent to bring defendants quickly to trial, it would make little sense to restart both the 30-day and 70-day periods whenever there is a superseding indictment. Frequently, a superseding indictment is used to drop charges or parties or, as here, to make a minor correction, leaving the charges and the evidence necessary to defend against them unaffected. These kinds of changes should not create a need for further preparation time; indeed, in some instances, superseding indictments may lessen the defense burden. Where a superseding indictment of this type is issued, the Court’s holding today permits the defendant to be brought to trial without unnecessary delay.
Like the Court, I fully recognize that a superseding indictment may add to a defendant’s burden in preparing for trial. In the event of additional charges, or of material changes, a defendant well may need additional preparation time. Under the Act, a defendant then may seek an “ends of justice” continuance, to be granted in the discretion of the trial court.2 See 18 U. S. C. § 3161(h)(8)(A). This continuance is available whether the need for additional time is occasioned by a superseding indictment or otherwise. Indeed, the 1979 amendments to the Speedy Trial Act not only mandated the 30-day defense-preparation period, but also provided that one basis for granting a continuance is if “the failure to grant such a continuance . . . would deny counsel for the defendant . . . the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation.” 18 U. S. C. § 3161(h)(8)(B)(iv). The constitutional right to assistance of counsel is rendered meaningless if a defendant is forced to trial in the absence of adequate time to prepare. To avoid prejudicing a defendant, a continuance should be *241granted where there is a meaningful possibility that a superseding indictment will require an alteration or adjustment in the planned defense. Trial courts should bear in mind that counsel may require time fully to analyze the impact of the superseding indictment, and to explore any options it presents or precludes.3
The Speedy Trial Act assures that defendants will be brought to trial quickly, but without undermining the Constitution’s guarantee of effective assistance of counsel. Because the Court’s holding today upholds that essential promise of the Act, I concur in the judgment.

 As the Court observes, ante, at 235, the notion that the Act might operate to deny defendants the necessary time adequately to prepare for trial had its genesis in the Guidelines issued by the Judicial Council of the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit (Guidelines). See Hearings on S. 961 and S. 1028 before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary, 96th Cong., 1st Sess., 122, 386-436 (1979) (Hearings). However, in enacting the 1979 amendments, Congress did not adopt the Second Circuit’s Guidelines; in fact, Congress rejected the Guidelines’ discretionary grant of a defense-preparation period, opting instead for a mandatory 30-day period. In light of this fundamental difference between the Act and the Guidelines, the latter’s details can provide little help for today’s decision. In any event, the Guidelines do not answer the question before us. Under them, where a superseding indictment contains charges not included in the original indictment, trial of the original charges must begin “within the time limit for commencement of trial on the original indictment or information.” Hearings, at 417. This language plainly instructs that as to the original charges contained in a superseding indictment, no new 30-day and 70-day periods begin to run. As to any new charges, however, the Guidelines at least suggest that the clock for the 70-day time to trial must be restarted. Ibid. It is not obvious under the Guidelines whether a modified charge of the sort before us today would be treated the same as the original charge, and the Guidelines are silent on the question whether to accord the defendant the opportunity to seek an additional discretionary preparation period where the 70-day period ran anew.

 Because time granted under an “ends of justice” continuance is expressly excluded from the 70-day period, any preparation time granted would not jeopardize the Government’s ability to bring the defendant to trial. See 18 U. S. C. § 3161(h)(8)(A).

 Following enactment of the 1979 amendments, the Committee on the Administration of the Criminal Law recommended precisely this analysis. The Committee advised district courts that, in the event of a superseding indictment, the 30-day preparation period should not run anew, but “the trial court should use its scheduling discretion to ensure that the defense has time to prepare in the circumstances of the particular case.” See Judicial Conference of the United States, Committee on the Administration of the Criminal Law, Guidelines to the Administration of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, as Amended, p. 14 (1981).