Court Opinion

ID: 9471546
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 03:35:15.607145+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:39:03.524435
License: Public Domain

FLAUM, Circuit Judge,
concurring in the result.
The defendant in this case claims that his rights under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-3174 (1982) (“Act”), were violated by both pre-indictment and post-indictment delay. Specifically, the defendant argues that the 216-day time lapse between his “arrest” on March 26, 1981, and his indictment on October 27, 1981, violated the Act. The defendant also contends that, in computing the seventy-day period between arraignment and trial that is allowed by the Act, the district court erred in excluding two major time lapses: (1) January 23, 1982, to April 15, 1982 (the period during which the district court failed to schedule the suppression hearing); and (2) Septem*550ber 5,1982, to December 13, 1982 (the period during which the trial court had the defendant’s motion to suppress under advisement in excess of the thirty-day advisement period • allowed by the Act). After reviewing all the procedural facts, I agree with the majority that the post-indictment delay exceeded the seventy-day limit that is allowed by the Act. Yet, while I concur in the result, I cannot adopt the majority’s speedy trial analysis as applied to the post-indictment delay1 in this case, and I write separately to set forth my approach.
It is clear that the Act allows a maximum of seventy days to pass between arraignment and trial.2 Excludable from this seventy-day period is “delay resulting from any pretrial motion, from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hearing on, or other prompt disposition of, such motion.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(F). This section is ambiguous in two respects. First, the phrase “other prompt disposition” is not explained or defined. Second, it is unclear whether “the conclusion of a hearing” is a type of “prompt disposition” and thus has time restrictions. In light of this ambiguity, an explanation of this section appearing in a 1979 Senate Report is instructive:
[Section 3161(h)(1)(F) ] provides exclusion of time from filing to the conclusion of hearings on or “other prompt disposition” of any motion. This later language is intended to provide a point at which time will cease to be excluded, where motions are decided on the papers filed without hearing. In using the words “prompt disposition”, the committee intends to make it clear that, in excluding time between filing and disposition on the papers, the Committee does not intend to permit circumvention of the 30-days, “under advisement” provision contained in Subsection (h)(l)(J). Indeed, if motions are so simple or routine that they do not require a hearing, necessary advisement time should be considerably less than 30 days. Nor does the Committee intend that additional time be made eligible for exclusion by postponing the hearing date or other disposition of the motions beyond what is reasonably necessary.
In any case in which a plea of not guilty is entered, the trial of a defendant charged in an information or indictment with the commission of an offense shall commence within seventy days from the filing date (and making public) of the information or indictment, or from the date the defendant has appeared before a judicial officer of the court in which such charge is pending, whichever date last occurs....
S.Rep. No. 96-212, 96th Cong., 1st Sess. 34 (1979). This legislative history reveals that Congress intended the phrase “other prompt disposition” to apply only to the situations where a pretrial motion is decided on the papers filed, without a hearing. The Senate Report also indicates Congress’s intent that, if a hearing or other disposition is postponed beyond what is reasonably necessary, the time of postponement cannot be excluded from the computation of the seventy-day maximum limit between arraignment and trial. Relying on this legislative history, the Second Circuit has enunciated the following useful rule, which I adopt: “[T]he period of allowable excludable delay applicable to a pretrial motion begins automatically with the making of the motion and runs for a period of time that is ‘reasonably necessary’ to conclude a hearing or to complete the submission of the matter to the court for decision.” United States v. Cobb, 697 F.2d 38, 44 (2d Cir.1982).3 Accord *551United States v. Smith, 563 F.Supp. 217, 220 (D.Md.1983).
In the present case, the motion to suppress was filed on November 23, 1981. Between November 23, 1981, and January 22, 1982, counsel attempted, but failed, to draft stipulated facts for the trial court to use in ruling upon the motion. On January 22, 1982, the government acknowledged that the effort had failed and that a pretrial hearing was necessary. The hearing was scheduled for February 4, 1982, and then rescheduled for the next day, February 5. The trial court cancelled the hearing on February 5, and the parties were told that the hearing would be rescheduled by the court for a later date. I find that the postponements of the hearing up until February 5 were reasonably necessary. After February 5, the case became lost in an administrative shuffle and was found by the trial court’s new minute clerk in mid-April. A status hearing took place on April 16. This significant period of indefinite postponement cannot be deemed reasonably necessary. The trial court thus erred in excluding this delay from the computation of the seventy-day allowable limit between arraignment and trial.
The next contested period of delay began after both parties submitted their post-hearing briefs. The defendant contends that the day on which the briefs were submitted, August 6, 1982, began the period during which the trial court had the motion under advisement. The defendant further argues that since, under section 3161(h)(l)(J) of the Act,4 only thirty days of this period were excludable from the computation of the seventy-day allowable time limit between arraignment and trial, the trial court improperly excluded the period between September 5, 1981, and December 13, 1981, the date on which the motion was denied.
Courts in a number of circuits have ruled that section 3161(h)(l)(J) operates to exclude thirty days of the time during which a court has a pretrial motion under advisement (the period after the briefs dealing with a pretrial motion have been submitted and the hearing, if any, has been held). See United States v. Bufalino, 683 F.2d 639, 644-45 (2d Cir.1982), cert. denied, _ U.S. _, 103 S.Ct. 727, 74 L.Ed.2d 952 (1983); United States v. DeLongchamps, 679 F.2d 217, 220 (11th Cir.1982); United States v. Scott, 557 F.Supp. 990, 994 (W.D.Va.1983). Until 1982, this court had never discussed the issue.5 Then, in United States v. Rained, 670 F.2d 702, 708 (7th Cir.1982), cert. denied, 459 U.S. 1035, 103 S.Ct. 446, 74 L.Ed.2d 601 (1983), this court cited to sections 3161(h)(1)(F) & (J) in deciding that, where a magistrate had pretrial motions under advisement for seventy-nine days, it was reasonable to exclude only thirty of those days from the computation of the allowable seventy days between arraignment and trial. Furthermore, in addition to the thirty days excludable under section 3161(h)(l)(J), it is clear that the statute allows further exclusion for any time that is granted through a continuance, provided that “the judge grantfs] such continuance on the basis of his findings that the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A).
In the, present case, the trial court took the suppression motion under advisement *552on August 6,1982, the day on which the last post-hearing brief was filed. Based on Raineri and the other cases cited supra, I find that the following thirty days were excludable under section 3161(h)(l)(J). According to the trial judge, the motion continued under advisement from September 5, 1982, until November 12, 1982, when the judge ordered the hearing reopened so as to clarify the factual events at issue. Memorandum Order of January 18, 1983, at 6. Yet, there is no evidence in the record that during this period the trial court made a motion for a continuance sua sponte, or called a status hearing, or contacted the parties to let them know that the advisement period had been extended. The lack of such activity causes me to accept the majority’s conclusion that section 3161(h)(8)(A.) does not apply to the period between September 5, 1982, and November 12, 1982, and that this time lapse was not excludable from the computation of the allowable seventy-day period between arraignment and trial.
I disagree, however, with the majority’s ruling that the period between November 12, 1982, when the hearing was ordered reopened, and December 13, 1982, when the motion was denied, was not excludable under section 3161(h)(8)(A). This section excludes time that is granted through a continuance, as long as the trial court “sets forth, in the record of the case, either orally or in writing, its reasons for finding that the ends of justice served by the granting of such continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” The precise verbal formulation that is necessary in order for*a district court to make the proper record to support an exclusion under this section will vary from case to case. In United States v. Edwards, 627 F.2d 460 (D.C.Cir.1980), the trial court granted a continuance sua sponte after it was informed that counsel for one of the codefendants was ill and that the prosecutor had a conflicting trial schedule. The court made no explanation on the record ' until a month later, when it simply noted these two reasons during a status call. The District of Columbia Circuit found that this listing of the reasons for the continuance was adequate to exclude the time of continuance under section 3161(h)(8)(A). In the present case, the trial court held a status hearing on November 12 and explained to both parties that, in order to rule on the suppression motion, she needed to interrogate further one of the witnesses on the issue of the removal of the defendant’s handcuffs. Transcript at 198. The majority recognizes that this hearing served to continue the case formally. I find further that the judge’s explanation at the hearing was similar to that set forth by the trial court in Edwards, and it met the requirement, under section 3161(h)(8)(A), that the trial court set forth the reasons for finding that the ends of justice served by granting a continuance outweigh the interests in a speedy trial.6 Thus, the period between November 12, 1982, and December 2, 1982, when the court reopened the hearing and took further testimony, was excludable under section 3161(h)(8)(A).7 Furthermore, from December 3, 1982, until December 13, 1982, when the court denied the motion, the court once again had the motion under advisement. Since Congress clearly intended that such periods be excludable from the computation of the seventy-day *553allowable period,8 and since the Act does not specifically limit a judge to one period of advisement for each motion, I find that the period from December 3, 1982, to December 13, 1982, was excludable under section 3161(h)(l)(J).
In light of the nonexcludable delays that accrued, first, between February 5, 1982, and April 16, 1982, and second, between September 5, 1982, and November 12, 1982, I conclude that the seventy-day limit as prescribed by section 3161(c)(1) was exceeded in this case and I concur with the majority’s finding of a speedy trial violation. I turn now to the majority’s examination of the three factors that the trial court will consider in deciding whether this case should be dismissed with or without prejudice. I accept the majority’s statements regarding the first factor, the severity of the offense. With regard to the remaining two factors, however, my views differ from those of the majority. First, the facts and circumstances of this case reveal that once the trial judge became aware of the misplacement of the case, she took immediate steps to schedule the suppression hearing. Also, the next contested delay was the result of scrupulous review by the trial court. During neither of the two contested periods did the defendant bring the delay to the attention of the court. Second, the defendant has shown no prejudice caused by the delays, and it cannot be concluded that his defense would be prejudiced by reprosecution.
Finally, I accept the majority’s discussion of the other issues in this case, except for the question of the legality of the defendant’s arrest. In view of our determination that the defendant’s consent to a search of his apartment was not a fruit of the arrest, any examination of the legality of the arrest is unnecessary.

. The defendant’s contention that the pre-indictment delay violated section 3161(b) of the Act is without merit, and I agree with the majority’s discussion on this point.

. Section 3161(c)(1) of the Act provides:

. Although the majority cites to the Senate Report, it confines itself to the face of the statute and determines whether the hearing in this case was “prompt.” For a conflicting interpretation of the plain meaning of the statute, see United States v. Stafford, 697 F.2d 1368, 1373 (11th Cir.1983), where the court, by not considering the “reasonably necessary” language in the Senate Report and by looking only to the face of the statute, concluded that “there is no requirement in [§ 3161(h)(1)(F)] that the hearing be held promptly.” See also United States v. Campbell, 706 F.2d 1138, 1143 & n. 12 (11th Cir.1983) (reaffirming Stafford, but declining to reach the question of whether there is a “reasonableness” limitation upon the ex-*551elusion of pretrial motions resulting in hearings).

. Section 3161(h)(l)(J) provides:
The following period!] of delay shall be excluded in computing the time within which an information or indictment must be filed, or in computing the time within which the trial of any such offense must commence:
delay reasonably attributable to any period, not to exceed thirty days, during which any proceeding concerning the defendant is actually under advisement by the court.

. In United States v. Regilio, 669 F.2d 1169, 1172 (7th Cir.1981), cert. denied, 457 U.S. 1133, 102 S.Ct. 2959, 73 L.Ed.2d 1350 (1982), this court determined only that § 3161(h)(1)(F) “does not specify the number of days excludable for prompt disposition of pretrial motions.” No mention was made of the applicability of § 3161(h)(l)(J).

. Arguably, the trial court’s statement of the reasons for a continuance is inadequate under § 3161(h)(8)(A) because it does not show that the court actually weighed the ends of justice against speedy trial interests. I find, however, that the status hearing called by the trial court in this case, at which the court emphasized the significance of the coercion issue to the resolution of the suppression motion, was a sufficient indication that the court had performed the necessary weighing process.

. The majority states that the continuance granted at the November 12 status hearing did not create excludable time because the district court did not make findings that the ends of justice outweigh speedy trial interests. While I concede that the recording of such findings would be optimal and would have been preferred in this case, I do not read § 3161(h)(8)(A) as mandating that these findings be recorded.

. See supra note 4.