Federick v. State

423 S.W.3d 649, 2012 Ark. App. 552, 2012 WL 4663878, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 663
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arkansas
DecidedOctober 3, 2012
DocketNo. CA CR 12-30
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 423 S.W.3d 649 (Federick v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Federick v. State, 423 S.W.3d 649, 2012 Ark. App. 552, 2012 WL 4663878, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 663 (Ark. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

CLIFF HOOFMAN, Judge.

| TAppellant Richard Stephen Federick entered a conditional plea of nolo conten-dere to one count of sexual indecency with a child, reserving in writing his right to appeal the denial of his motion to dismiss for a speedy-trial violation.1 He was sentenced to two years’ imprisonment and received a four-year suspended imposition of sentence. On appeal, Federick argues that the trial court erred by denying his motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds and finding that his prosecution was not barred. We affirm.2

On May 27, 2009, Federick was arrested and charged in Garland County with the offense of sexual indecency with a child. His arraignment hearing was scheduled for July 6,1 ¡>2009, and he filed a motion for a continuance of the hearing on July 2, 2009. The motion was granted by the trial court that same day, and the continuance order indicates that the hearing was continued from July 6 to July 13, 2009, and that the days were charged to Federick for speedy-trial purposes.

The jury trial was initially set for November 5, 2009, but on August 10, 2009, Federick filed a motion for a continuance of the trial because his attorney would be out of town. This motion was granted in an order signed on August 14 and entered on August 17, 2009, and the trial court stated that the trial would be continued from November 5 until December 9, 2009, with the time for speedy trial “tolled to the Defendant.” On December 8, 2009, Feder-ick requested another continuance, this time due to the unavailability of one of his key witnesses. This continuance was granted by the trial court in an order signed on December 9 and entered on December 10, 2009; although this order states that the speedy-trial time would be charged to Federick, it does not indicate the new trial date or the amount of time to be charged to him. The docket sheets in the addendum, however, as well as a notice of trial entered on December 10, indicate that the trial was rescheduled for April 14, 2010.

On April 12, 2010, Federick entered a plea of not guilty by reason of mental disease or defect, and the trial court entered an order of continuance on April 20, 2010, so that Federick’s psychological evaluation could be completed, again charging the speedy-trial time to the defendant. Federick’s forensic evaluation report was filed with the trial court on September 3, 2010, and according to the docket sheets, a hearing on his fitness to proceed was Rheld on September 13, 2010, at which time the trial court declared him competent to stand trial. The trial was reset for February 2, 2011.

The State requested a continuance on January 20, 2011, due to the unavailability of a necessary witness, and the court granted it in an order entered on January 25, 2011, resetting the trial for April 13, 2011. On March 18, 2011, Federick filed a motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds, but the State subsequently filed a motion to nol-pros the charges because the offense had actually occurred in Saline County. The nol-pros order was entered on March 31, 2011, so that the case could be transferred to the proper venue.

On April 26, 2011, the charges against Federick were refiled in Saline County Circuit Court, and an amended information was filed on May 6, 2011. Federick filed a second motion to dismiss on May 10, 2011, arguing that 728 days had passed from his date of arrest until the date of his trial set for May 25, 2011, that 319 days had been tolled from the running of the speedy-trial period, and that this resulted in 409 days that he had waited for trial, which was a violation of the 365-day speedy-trial limitation set forth in Ark. R.Crim. P. 28.1. Federick also filed a continuance motion on May 12, 2011, so that his motion to dismiss could be reviewed by the State. The trial court entered an order granting the continuance and resetting the trial for September 13, 2011. The court noted that the period from May 25 to September 13, 2011, would be excluded for purposes of speedy trial.

In its response to the motion to dismiss, the State argued that Federick had miscalculated the correct number of days that should be excluded as a result of his request that the original trial date be continued. Although Federick had only excluded the days from the [4 original trial setting of November 2, 2009, until December 9, 2009, a period of 34 days, the State asserted that under Rule 28.3(c), the correct excludable time should be from the date the continuance was granted by the trial court on August 14, 2009, until the new trial date of December 9, 2009, a period of 117 days. The State agreed that 713 days had passed from the date of Federick’s arrest until the filing of his motion to dismiss, but contended that 415 days were excluded and that only 298 days of speedy-trial time had thus elapsed.

A hearing was held on Federick’s motion to dismiss on June 23, 2011, and the primary issue discussed at the hearing was the correct number of excludable days resulting from his August 2009 motion for continuance. Federick argued that only the actual period of delay in his trial, from November 2 to December 9, 2009, should be counted, as this is the intent of the speedy-trial rule. The trial court agreed with Federick’s reasoning, stating that it had interpreted the rule that way in the past. However, the trial court relied upon a case from our supreme court, Miles v. State, 348 Ark. 544, 75 S.W.3d 677 (2002), in finding that the State’s interpretation, which is that the excludable time runs from the date the continuance is granted until the subsequent date contained in the order or docket entry granting the continuance, was correct. Thus, the trial court found that the scheduled trial date was well within the 365-day speedy-trial period and that Federick’s motion to dismiss should be denied. Federick subsequently entered his conditional plea of nolo conten-dere on September 20, 2011, reserving his right to appeal the denial of his motion, and he filed a timely notice of appeal. He again argues on appeal that the trial court erred in its interpretation of the speedy-trial rule and in denying his motion to dismiss.

| BUnder Ark. R.Crim. P. 28.1, an accused must be brought to trial within twelve months from the date of his arrest if the accused has been continuously held in custody or on bail since the time of his arrest for the offense charged. Ark. R.Crim. P. 28.1(c) and 28.2(a) (2011); Rogers v. State, 66 Ark. App. 283, 989 S.W.2d 568 (1999). In calculating the speedy-trial period, necessary periods of delay are excluded as authorized in Ark. R.Crim. P. 28.3 (2011). Once it has been determined that the trial took place outside the speedy-trial period of twelve months, the State bears the burden of proving that the delay was the result of the defendant’s conduct or was otherwise legally justified. Ferguson v. State, 343 Ark. 159, 33 S.W.3d 115 (2000); Rogers, supra. A defendant is entitled to have the charges dismissed with an absolute bar to prosecution if he is not brought to trial within twelve months, excluding such periods of necessary delay authorized in Rule 28.3. Ark. R.Crim. P. 28.1(c).

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Bluebook (online)
423 S.W.3d 649, 2012 Ark. App. 552, 2012 WL 4663878, 2012 Ark. App. LEXIS 663, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/federick-v-state-arkctapp-2012.