Doby v. Jefferson County Circuit Court

88 S.W.3d 824, 350 Ark. 505, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 566
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedNovember 7, 2002
DocketCR 02-346
StatusPublished
Cited by11 cases

This text of 88 S.W.3d 824 (Doby v. Jefferson County Circuit Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Doby v. Jefferson County Circuit Court, 88 S.W.3d 824, 350 Ark. 505, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 566 (Ark. 2002).

Opinion

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

Petitioner Algernon Doby petitions this court for a writ of prohibition barring the Jefferson County Circuit Court from proceeding to trial on the charges against him of capital murder, attempted capital murder, and theft of property. The grounds for the petition are (1) an alleged violation of his right to a speedy trial, as provided under Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure 28.1 through 28.3, and (2) an alleged violation of his right to counsel as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. We hold that due to excluded periods of time chargeable to Doby, a violation of his right to a speedy trial has not occurred. Accordingly, we deny the petition.

On July 7, 1999, the Jefferson County prosecutor filed a criminal information against Doby, charging him with murder in the first degree, battery in the first degree, and felon in possession of a firearm. The prosecutor asserted in the information that Doby killed Raymond Eugene Johnson and caused serious physical injury to Tamika Tyler by means of a firearm. The date listed for each offense was July 6, 1999. Also, on July 7, 1999, a bench warrant was issued for Doby’s arrest. On July 15, 1999, the murder charges were upgraded to capital murder and criminal attempt to commit capital murder. Doby was charged again with felon in possession of a firearm, and a theft-of-property charge was added to the criminal information. Doby fled the jurisdiction.

On September 30, 1999, pursuant to a motion by the prosecution, the trial court appointed the State Public Defender to represent Doby, though he had not been apprehended at that time. The reason for the appointment was so that the prosecutor could depose the victim, Tamika Tyler. At that time, Tyler feared for her life, and it was believed that deposing her, as a critical witness for the State, was necessary, because Doby was still at large. In its order, the trial court said: “The Public Defender is further instructed to inform the Court upon the Defendant acquiring substitute counsel.” On October 6, 1999, Teri Chambers, a public defender, filed a motion for discovery on behalf of Doby and requested that the prosecution disclose all relevant information. The prosecutor responded with reference to the office’s standard “open-file” policy, which allowed defense counsel to inspect the prosecutor’s file following one hour’s notice.

On or about May 2, 2000, the prosecutor learned that Doby was in jail in Texas. On May 4, 2000, Arkansas authorities obtained custody of Doby and returned him to this state. His arraignment was then set for June 5, 2000, before the Jefferson County Circuit Court. At the arraignment on that date, Doby refused representation by the public defender and requested a continuance in order to retain private counsel. The trial court granted a continuance until July 10, 2000. On July 10, 2000, Doby appeared before the circuit court and again requested additional time to retain private counsel. Another continuance was granted until August 7, 2000. On August 7, 2000, Doby still had not retained counsel, and the circuit court denied him a third continuance and set November 2, 2000, as the trial date.

On August 23, 2000, the prosecutor moved to exclude from speedy-trial calculations the period of time between July 7, 1999, and November 2, 2000. The prosecutor based her claim for exclusion on the fact that Doby had delayed his prosecution by, first, fleeing the jurisdiction and, secondly, by repeatedly requesting continuances in order to hire private counsel.

On October 13, 2000, the circuit court held a hearing on the prosecutor’s motion to exclude time. At that hearing, the trial court inquired into whether Doby had retained counsel. Doby answered that he was still unrepresented and that, as of that date, he was unable to afford counsel. In answer to the circuit court’s concern that Doby had previously refused representation by the public defender’s office, he replied that he did not believe he could receive a fair trial with the public defender representing him. When the circuit court asked him why, he stated that after he returned from Texas, a woman from the public defender’s office who said she was his lawyer had come to his jail cell to ask him questions. Doby told the court that he had informed her that he did not want to speak with her, because he needed to speak with a lawyer. (Presumably, Doby’s reference was to retained counsel). Upon hearing this, the woman said that obtaining a lawyer was in his best interests and left.

During the October 13, 2000 hearing, the circuit court declared Doby to be indigent and appointed the public defender’s office to represent him. Doby did not refuse this representation. As the hearing proceeded, Doby asked the court about a motion he claimed that he had filed asking the prosecutor to send him “my evidence under the prosecutor’s obligation.” He said that the prosecutor had not responded to his motion and that the “court clerk” had told him that his discovery motion was filed on June 20, 2000. The circuit court mentioned the prosecutor’s “open file” policy and further stated that the problem Doby had encountered was that he was in jail and, thus, unable to go to the prosecutor’s office and inspect the file. The trial court said in reference to discoverable material: “Had you had an attorney, that would have already been in hand and you would have already had a copy [of the file] from your attorney.”

The trial court then ruled that the period from July 7, 1999, through November 2, 2000, was excluded for purposes of speedy-trial calculations, because Doby was absent from the jurisdiction from July 7, 1999, until May 4, 2000, and that time was properly chargeable to him. The circuit court did not specifically refer to the time between May 4, 2000, and June 5, 2000, the date Doby was arraigned. However, the circuit court did say that the two periods during which Doby appeared in court and requested continuances, June 5, 2000, to July 10, 2000, and June 10, 2000, to August 7, 2000, were chargeable to Doby. For the time period between August 7, 2000, and November 2, 2000, the circuit court found that Doby’s failure to procure counsel and his appearance without counsel on the day the arraignment was reset, which was August 7, 2000, were reasons enough to charge this period to Doby. Following the hearing, the court entered an order excluding the entire period from July 7, 1999, to November 2, 2000, for speedy-trial purposes and charging it to Doby.

During the October 13, 2000 hearing, the circuit court asked Doby if he believed that the public defender could be prepared for trial by November 2, 2000, given the fact that Doby had not procured private counsel, had refused to proceed pro se, and had not cooperated with the public defender previously. Doby responded that he did not believe his appointed attorney would have time to prepare. Following the hearing on October 13, 2000, Teri Chambers, on behalf of the public defender’s office, received a copy of the prosecutor’s file on Doby.

On October 25, 2000, the public defender’s office by Teri Chambers filed a motion to continue Doby’s trial set for November 2, 2000. In making this motion, she argued that Doby had not received complete discovery from the prosecutor. For that reason, she argued, the time from November 2, 2000, until the new trial date should be charged to the State.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
88 S.W.3d 824, 350 Ark. 505, 2002 Ark. LEXIS 566, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/doby-v-jefferson-county-circuit-court-ark-2002.