Court Opinion

ID: 9489243
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 13:09:55.175934+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:53:24.920990
License: Public Domain

LEAVY, Circuit Judge,
concurring:
I concur in the result reached by the majority on all substantive issues, and agree that the judgment of the district court should be affirmed. I write separately, however, because I see no need to discuss “excludable time” or the defendant’s implicit consent to exceeding the thirty-day statutory limit. As we are agreed that the trial was within the time allowed by the statute, discussion of excludable time and consent have nothing to do with the outcome and are, therefore, mere dicta.
Even if the issue of speedy trial depended on our consideration of implied consent, I see no basis for criticism of defense counsel. No one suggests that she made any false statements to the court or anyone else. When October 14 was set as the trial date, she had a pending appeal of the magistrate judge’s denial of her motion for release from custody. If she had been successful on the appeal, the speedy trial issue would have gone away. The court asked, “Do you expect to go to trial within the thirty days’ time?” She answered, “If he’s in custody, yes, I would.”
On the morning of trial counsel moved to dismiss for violation of the Speedy Trial Act. She argued that under United States v. Andy, 549 F.2d 1281 (9th Cir.1977), the act had been violated. The trial court questioned defense counsel’s timing of the motion, with the admonition that “there is an expense in getting all these people here.” In denying the motion, the trial court did not find a waiver of the time limits.
Congress passed the speedy trial provision, the President signed it, the United States Attorney decided what charge to make, whom to charge, and when to take the accused into custody. An assistant United States attorney contended that a trial on October 14 was within the time limit. The district court set that date, and we have affirmed. We do not expect a twelve year old child to tell us how to obey the statute, nor should we expect an assistant federal defender to volunteer advice to the government or to the court on how to avoid a dismissal of the charge.