Court Opinion

ID: 9884388
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-10-06 02:54:44.541265+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:48:38.034277
License: Public Domain

*381NIERENGARTEN, Judge,
disssenting.
I would reverse. Rule 6.06 states in part:
On demand made in writing or orally on the record * * * the defendant shall be tried within sixty (60) days from the date of the demand unless good cause is shown by the prosecution * * * why he should not be brought to trial within that period.
Minn.R.Crim.P. 6.06.
The first trial date was May 26, 1987. On that date, appellants demanded a speedy trial. The trial was rescheduled for June 22, 1987, because of a busy calendar. On June 22, the appellants demanded removal of the trial judge. There remained twenty-three days, within the sixty day period, during which the case could have been tried.
Instead the trial occurred on August 17, 1987, at which time the appellants moved for dismissal for failure to obtain a speedy trial. By order dated August 20, 1987, the court denied the motion, finding that:
1. * * * In the case at hand, it is apparent to the Court that the reason the case was not tried within the 60 days, is because of the Affidavit to Remove, which was filed by the defendant on June 22, 1987.
2. Given the current state of the court’s calendar, combined with the fact that at this time this Court was also operating with two less judges than its full complement, there exists good cause for denying the above motion.
(emphasis added). However, the record failed to disclose any evidence either (1) of the “state of the court’s calendar,” or (2) that “operating with two less judges than its full complement” made trial impossible in the next twenty-three days.
On September 3, the appellants again moved the court for an order vacating the judgment and dismissing their case arguing they were denied a speedy trial. Sometime after the September 3 hearing, the appellants’ attorney submitted an affidavit of Mark Calvert, the case manager responsible for scheduling criminal jury trials in Ramsey County District Court. The affidavit states:
2. That during the period June 22, 1987 to August 17, 1987, several judges were assigned and available to hear criminal jury trials.
3. That on June 22, 1987, if I had been aware of the Defendants’ request for a speedy trial, I would have scheduled the above-captioned case for a jury trial prior to the expiration of the 60-day period which began May 26, 1987.
The affidavit was filed with the court and personally delivered to the trial judge’s chambers by the appellants’ attorney. Calvert’s affidavit is dated September 14; the trial court file indicates the affidavit was filed with the clerk of court on that date. We assume a copy of the affidavit was delivered to the trial court judge on that date.
Eight days after the filing of the Calvert affidavit, the court again denied the motion to dismiss, stating, in part, in its order dated September 22, 1987:
Based upon all the files, records and proceedings * * * the Court makes the following
FINDINGS AND CONCLUSIONS:
1. The chronology of the case is as follows:
* * * * * *
f. Demand for speedy trial under Rule 11.1: May 26, 1987;
g. The second trial date: June 22, 1987, at which time the defendants filed an Affidavit of Removal against the judge scheduled to hear that case. There were no other judges available that week to hear the case, and the matter was continued for a third trial date of August 17, 1987.
2. The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution, and Article I, Section VI of the Minnesota State Constitution, provide for the right of all defendants in criminal prosecutions to a speedy trial.
***** *
3. The comments to Rule 6.06, as found in the comments to Rule 11.10 of *382the Minnesota Rules of Criminal Procedure, provide that:
“The rule does not specify the consequences of failure to bring a defendant to trial within the time limits set by the rule * * * the consequences and the time limit beyond which a defendant is considered to have been denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial are left to judicial decision * *
4. The leading United States case regarding the question of speedy trial is Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 Lawyer Ed. 2nd 101 (1972), which provides a balancing test in determining whether or not a person has been denied his right to a speedy trial. The factors to be considered are: 1) the length of delay; 2) the reason for the delay; 3) defendant’s assertion of this right; 4) any prejudice to the defendant.
5. This Court finds that the length of delay in this case, a total of some 22 days, is not sufficient to find that the defendants were denied a speedy trial. Furthermore, the reason for the delay, a combination of an over-crowded court calendar, as well as the fling of an Affidavit to Remove the original trial judge in this matter, was not a sufficient basis to dismiss the charges for denial of a speedy trial.
(emphasis added).
This “finding” flies directly in the teeth of the Calvert affidavit. We recognize that Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2191, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972) allows the trial court to consider certain factors in determining whether a person has been denied his or her right to a speedy trial and that the sixty-day period provided in Rule 6.06 is “presumptive only.” See State v. Curtis, 393 N.W.2d 10, 12 (Minn.Ct.App.1986). However, when the record not only does not support the court’s findings but, in fact, speaks against them, we must concluded that the judicial discretion granted the trial court to determine whether a defendant has been denied his or her constitutional right to a speedy trial has been abused.
I would reverse and require the trial court to dismiss the charges.