Commonwealth v. Bonaparte

410 A.2d 872, 270 Pa. Super. 12, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2943
CourtSuperior Court of Pennsylvania
DecidedSeptember 21, 1979
DocketNo. 134
StatusPublished

This text of 410 A.2d 872 (Commonwealth v. Bonaparte) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Superior Court of Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Commonwealth v. Bonaparte, 410 A.2d 872, 270 Pa. Super. 12, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2943 (Pa. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

O’BRIEN, Judge:

Appellant, Richard Bonaparte, was convicted in a bench trial of voluntary manslaughter. Post-verdict motions were denied and appellant was sentenced to a prison term of three to ten years. This appeal followed.

Appellant first argues that he was denied his right to a speedy trial. The facts are as follows. On February 12, 1972, police were called to Tillman’s Bar, in Philadelphia, where they found appellant lying in the doorway with a gunshot wound. Another man, John Tillman, was on the barroom floor, mortally wounded. An eyewitness stated that appellant had entered the bar, struggled with Tillman, then fired six shots into the victim’s body. Appellant was arrested and charged with murder on that date. Trial commenced December 14, 1973. At the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s case on that date, appellant requested a continuance, which was granted to January 2, 1974. Appellant failed to appear and the case continued to January 23, 1974. From that time until May, 1976, the case was continued for various reasons, including appellant’s unavailability. Pursuant to a bench warrant, appellant was arrested in May, 1976. Trial was scheduled for June 3, 1976, but for various reasons chargeable to appellant, trial was not concluded until April 28, 1977.

Appellant’s argument is broken down into two parts. He first argues he was denied a speedy trial because he was not tried until December 14, 1973, twenty-two months after he was arrested on February 12, 1972.1

In Commonwealth v. Ware, 459 Pa. 334, 346, 329 A.2d 258, 264 (1974), the court stated:

“Therefore, ‘any inquiry into a speedy trial claim necessitates a functional analysis of the right in the particular context of the case . . . .’ Barker v. Wingo, supra, [407 U.S. 514] at 522, 92 S.Ct. [2182] at 2188 [31 L.Ed.2d [15]*15101]. We are required to ‘engage in a difficult and sensitive balancing process,’ id. at 533, 92 S.Ct. at 2193, ‘in which the conduct of both the prosecution and the defendant are weighed.’ Id. at 530, 92 S.Ct. at 2192 (footnote omitted). The factors we must consider in this balancing process are ‘[l]ength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.’ Id. (footnote omitted).”

It is within this framework that we must decide appellant’s claim.

In the instant case, appellant cites no specific prejudice resulting from the twenty-two month delay. Further, prior to the December, 1973 commencement of appellant’s trial, appellant never made demand he be afforded an immediate trial. Further, appellant made bail shortly after he was arrested. Here we have a twenty-two month delay between arrest and commencement of trial, the record failing to adequately explain the reasons for the delay. In Commonwealth v. Ware, supra, there was an unexcused and unexplained twenty-six month delay. As that court explained:

“First, there is nothing in the record indicating that appellant was prejudiced in his defense by the delay. He has suffered the inherent prejudice of long pretrial incarceration. But we are unable to conclude that he has suffered any impairment of his defense, which is the most serious type of prejudice ‘because the inability of a defendant adequately to prepare his case skews the fairness of the entire system. If witnesses die or disappear during a delay, the prejudice is obvious. There is also prejudice if defense witnesses are unable to recall accurately events of the distant past.’
“Barker v. Wingo, supra, at 532, 92 S.Ct. at 2193.
“There is here not the slightest hint that appellant’s defense has been impaired by delay, no claims of dead, forgetful, or unavailable witnesses. Thus, this case differs markedly from those where specific impairment of the defense was a factor leading to a conclusion that the [16]*16right to a speedy trial has been violated: Dickey v. Florida, 398 U.S. 30, 38, 90 S.Ct. 1564, 1569, 26 L.Ed.2d 26 (1970) (deaths of two witnesses, unavailability of a witness, loss of police records); Commonwealth v. Williams, 457 Pa. 502, 507, 327 A.2d 15, 18 (1974) (loss of memory by a witness, death of a witness, and unavailability of two witnesses); Commonwealth v. Hamilton, 449 Pa. 297, 301, 297 A.2d 127, 129 (1972) (death of a witness); Commonwealth v. Clark, 443 Pa. 318, 331-332, 279 A.2d 41, 48-49 (1971) (defendant’s loss of memory, unavailability of five witnesses, loss of physical evidence).
“More importantly, the record demonstrates that appellant did not want a speedy trial. It is true that he objected to the removal of the nol pros on the ground that trial at that time would violate his speedy trial right and twice moved to dismiss on the same ground, in July, 1972, and at trial. However, he never demanded an immediate trial; see Barker v. Wingo, supra, at 535, 92 S.Ct. at 2194. His counsel’s consent to the Commonwealth’s petition to nol pros contrasts sharply with the demands for a speedy triál made by the defendants in Klopfer v. North Carolina [386 U.S. 213, 87 S.Ct. 988, 18 L.Ed.2d 1], supra; Commonwealth v. Learning [442 Pa. 223, 275. A.2d 43], supra; and Commonwealth v. Gant [213 Pa.Super. 427, 249 A.2d 845], supra. We conclude, as did the Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, supra, that
“ ‘we would be reluctant indeed to rule that a defendant was denied this constitutional right on a record that strongly indicates, as does this one, that the defendant did not want a speedy trial.’
“407 U.S. at 536, 92 S.Ct. at 2195.
“In light of the absence of specific prejudice and appellant’s failure to demand a speedy trial, we conclude that the balance of the relevant factors indicates appellant has not been denied his right to a speedy trial.”

A balancing of the Barker v. Wingo standards in the instant case, as in Ware, requires a finding the delay prior to commencement of trial did not amount to a denial of appellant’s right to a speedy trial.

[17]*17Appellant further claims that his prompt trial right was denied because of a delay in the conclusion of his trial. Following the conclusion of the Commonwealth’s case on December 14,1973, appellant requested a continuance, which was granted, until January 2, 1974. On that date, however, appellant failed to appear and a bench warrant was issued. When appellant appeared later that day with a sufficient explanation for his tardiness, the warrant was withdrawn and trial was rescheduled for January 23, 1974. Between January 23, 1974 and May 28, 1974, numerous listings were continued for a variety of reasons, including the unavailability of either appellant or his attorney. On May 28, 1974, another bench warrant was issued.

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Related

Klopfer v. North Carolina
386 U.S. 213 (Supreme Court, 1967)
Dickey v. Florida
398 U.S. 30 (Supreme Court, 1970)
Barker v. Wingo
407 U.S. 514 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Ricardo Perez Goitia v. United States
409 F.2d 524 (First Circuit, 1969)
Commonwealth v. Ware
329 A.2d 258 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
Commonwealth v. Williams
327 A.2d 15 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1974)
Commonwealth Ex Rel. Washington v. Maroney
235 A.2d 349 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1967)
Commonwealth v. Grant
249 A.2d 845 (Superior Court of Pennsylvania, 1968)
Commonwealth v. Leaming
275 A.2d 43 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
Commonwealth v. Clark
279 A.2d 41 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1971)
People v. Manson
61 Cal. App. 3d 102 (California Court of Appeal, 1976)
Commonwealth v. Hamilton
297 A.2d 127 (Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 1972)

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Bluebook (online)
410 A.2d 872, 270 Pa. Super. 12, 1979 Pa. Super. LEXIS 2943, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/commonwealth-v-bonaparte-pasuperct-1979.