Court Opinion

ID: 9592648
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 00:16:04.111496+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:01:17.200161
License: Public Domain

MACY, Justice,
specially concurring.
I concur with the majority opinion but feel obliged to write separately on the speedy trial issue. The majority finds that the trial was held within 120 days of Vargas’s arraignment as is required by W.R.Cr.P. 48 but then proceeds to conduct an analysis under Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). The United States Supreme Court specifically gave the states the freedom to dictate a reasonable, definable period of time in which trials must be held. Barker, 407 U.S. at 523, 92 S.Ct. 2182. We did just that by adopting W.R.Cr.P. 48. It is my opinion that application of the Barker analysis since our adoption of W.R.Cr.P. 48 is inappropriate. I believe that this rule provides the exclusive framework by which we should analyze speedy trial issues.
*993I am also concerned with the majority opinion’s treatment of the preindictment delay. The majority seems to combine the preindictment delay time with the time between the arraignment and trial and applies the Barker factors to the total time period. I do not think that this approach is proper. Traditionally, when we have analyzed prein-dictment delays, we have considered whether a preindictment delay substantially prejudiced the defendant’s right to have a fair trial and whether the prosecution intentionally delayed the proceeding in order to gain a tactical advantage. McDermott v. State, 897 P.2d 1295, 1300 (Wyo.1995); Phillips v. State, 835 P.2d 1062, 1069 (Wyo.1992).
In my opinion, we should have decided this case by using our established preindictment delay and W.R.Cr.P. 48 speedy trial analyses instead of by applying the Barker factors. My specially concurring opinions in Hall v. State, 911 P.2d 1364, 1371 (Wyo.1996) (Macy, J., specially concurring), and in Yung v. State, 906 P.2d 1028, 1037 (Wyo.1995) (Macy, J., specially concurring) continue to reflect my ideas on the matter.