Clarke v. State

928 S.W.2d 709, 1996 WL 447405
CourtCourt of Appeals of Texas
DecidedSeptember 19, 1996
Docket2-94-250-CR
StatusPublished
Cited by63 cases

This text of 928 S.W.2d 709 (Clarke v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Texas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Clarke v. State, 928 S.W.2d 709, 1996 WL 447405 (Tex. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinions

OPINION ON REHEARING

DAY, Justice.

PROCEDURAL HISTORY AND APPELLATE REVIEW

We handed down this opinion on February 29,1996 and published only those portions of the opinion addressing the speedy trial and venue points of error. This opinion has raised concerns about the proper standard of review of a speedy trial claim. On March 18, 1996, Matthew Thomas Clarke filed his amended motion for rehearing in this case, which we grant. Our prior opinion is withdrawn and this opinion is substituted in its entirety.

A jury found Clarke guilty of aggravated sexual assault on April 6, 1988. Clarke appealed his conviction, and we found reversible error and remanded the case for a new trial on the punishment phase only. Clarke v. State, 785 S.W.2d 860 (Tex.App.—Fort Worth 1990), aff'd, 811 S.W.2d 99 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 502 U.S. 946, 112 S.Ct. 390, 116 L.Ed.2d 340 (1991). In the second trial, the jury assessed punishment at 99 years’ imprisonment. Clarke appeals this conviction in eight points of error. We affirm his conviction.

SPEEDY TRIAL

In his first two points of error, Clarke argues that the State violated his right to a speedy trial because his punishment was tried two years and five months after the United States Supreme Court denied certiorari on his first case. The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, applied to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, guarantees the right to a speedy trial. Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223-24, 87 S.Ct. 988, 993-94, 18 L.Ed.2d 1, 8 (1967). Although the Texas Constitution also guarantees the right to a speedy trial, Clarke complains only of the violation of his federal right. However, the test applied under either the state or federal constitution is the same. Hull v. State, 699 S.W.2d 220, 221 (Tex.Crim.App.1985); Russell v. State, 598 S.W.2d 238, 248 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 449 U.S. 1003, 101 S.Ct. 544, 66 L.Ed.2d 300 (1980). To determine whether an accused has been denied the right to a speedy trial, the trial court employs the balancing test first enunciated in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 116-17 (1972).

Standard of Review

In Clarke’s amended motion for rehearing, he argues that this court incorrectly [713]*713applied an abuse of discretion standard in reviewing a trial court’s analysis of a speedy trial claim under Barker v. Wingo, citing Emery v. State, 881 S.W.2d 702, 708 (Tex.Crim.App.1994), cert. denied, - U.S. -, 115 S.Ct. 1257, 131 L.Ed.2d 137 (1995) and Phillips v. State, 650 S.W.2d 396, 398 (Tex.Crim.App.1983). According to these two Court of Criminal Appeals opinions, intermediate courts should apply the Barker v. Wingo balancing test anew. While the language in these two opinions is subtle, we agree that Clarke is correct in determining that we must conduct the Barker balancing test de novo. In applying this test, we consider four factors: 1) length of delay; 2) reason for the delay; 3) defendant’s assertion of the right; and 4) prejudice to the defendant resulting from that delay. Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. at 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d at 116-17. To facilitate this analysis and to address some of Clarke’s misstatements of our original opinion, we have compiled the following time line:

March 1987 Clarke commits this aggravated sexual assault.
April 6, 1988 A jury convicts Clarke and assesses punishment at 99 years.
April 29, 1988 Clarke files notice of appeal on this offense.
August 25, 1989 A jury convicts Clarke of first extraneous offense, the aggravated sexual assault of C.V.
January 24,1990 A jury convicts Clarke of second extraneous offense, the aggravated sexual assault of D.L.
January 31, 1990 We reverse and remand for a new trial on punishment for this aggravated assault.
May 25, 1990 Clarke files petition for discretionary review for this offense.
September 12, 1990 Court of Criminal Appeals grants PDR for this offense.
April 17, 1991 Court of Criminal Appeals affirms our opinion. 811 S.W.2d 99.
November 4, 1991 U.S. Supreme Court denies certiorari. 502 U.S. 946, 112 S.Ct. 390,116 L.Ed.2d 340.
June 29, 1992 Conviction for first extraneous offense becomes final.
November 6, 1992 Conviction for second extraneous offense becomes final.
November 17, 1993 Clarke files motion for speedy retrial for this offense. He also files his first motion for a pretrial hearing for his more than 32 outstanding motions.
January 24, 1994 A bench warrant indicates that trial was set for this date. No record of why passed.
March 1, 1994 Clarke files first motion to dismiss for failure to provide a speedy retrial.
March 15, 1994 Trial court calls the case and sets a pretrial hearing for March 29, 1994.
March 16, 1994 A second bench warrant indicates that trial was set for this date.
March 17,1994 Clarke files a supplemental motion for a pretrial hearing.
March 24, 1994 Clarke files second motion to dismiss for failure to provide a speedy retrial.
March 29,1994 Pretrial hearing begins.
April 8,1994 Pretrial hearing continues.
April 11, 1994 Pretrial hearing continues.
April 18, 1994 Retrial on punishment held and jury assesses punishment at 99 years.
June 8, 1994 Clarke files notice of appeal.

Barker Analysis

Length of Delay

First, we must measure the length of delay. Although no specific length of time triggers a speedy trial analysis, the Court of Criminal Appeals notes that some courts presume that a delay of eight months or longer is prejudicial. See Harris v. State, 827 S.W.2d 949, 956 (Tex.Crim.App.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 942, 113 S.Ct. 381, 121 L.Ed.2d 292 (1992). In other cases, delays of three to four years have been upheld.1 See Phipps v. State, 630 S.W.2d 942, 946 (Tex.Crim.App. [Panel Op.] 1982); Swisher v. State, 544 S.W.2d 379, 381 (Tex.Crim.App.1976), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 1038, 97 S.Ct. 734, 50 L.Ed.2d 749 (1977). The U.S. Su[714]*714preme Court denied Clarke’s petition for certiorari on November 4, 1991, and he was retried on April 11, 1994. Because the State concedes that this 29 month delay triggers a speedy trial analysis, we must next consider the reason for the delay.

Reason for the Delay

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Bluebook (online)
928 S.W.2d 709, 1996 WL 447405, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/clarke-v-state-texapp-1996.