People v. McMurtry

101 P.3d 1098, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1858, 2003 WL 22860902
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedDecember 4, 2003
DocketNo. 02CA0640
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 101 P.3d 1098 (People v. McMurtry) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
People v. McMurtry, 101 P.3d 1098, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1858, 2003 WL 22860902 (Colo. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinion

Opinion by

Judge ROTHENBERG.

Defendant, Christopher MceMurtry, appeals the judgment of conviction entered pursuant to his plea of guilty to attempted sexual assault. At issue in this case is whether defendant's constitutional or statutory speedy trial rights were violated, thus depriving the trial court of jurisdiction to accept his guilty plea. Because we conclude his rights were not violated and the trial court did not lack jurisdiction, we affirm.

[1096]*1096I. Background

Defendant was a juvenile when he committed the offense in this case, but was charged as an adult by means of a direct-filed information. He remained in custody in the county jail, and pursuant to § 19-2-508(4)(b), C.R.S$.2003, the trial court ordered the sheriff to segregate him from the adult prisoners.

On January 23, 2001, defendant pleaded not guilty, and the court scheduled trial for May 28.

On May 7, defendant's public defender moved to withdraw, alleging the sheriff had not completely segregated defendant from the adult prisoners and, as a result, defendant had obtained information that would make him a witness against a prisoner also represented by the public defender's office. The trial court granted the motion the following day, and defendant also waived his speedy trial rights so that new counsel would have an adequate opportunity to prepare for trial.

On May 11, defendant's new counsel entered her appearance and informed the court that she had a scheduling conflict on the May 28 trial date. The trial court rescheduled the trial for October 15, 2001. Thereafter, a second replacement of counsel occurred for reasons not relevant to this appeal.

On October 1, defendant moved to dismiss the charges, alleging that his statutory and constitutional rights to a speedy trial were violated. The motion further alleged that defendant's earlier waiver of his speedy trial rights was invalid because it was precipitated by the sheriff's violation of the trial court's segregation order. The court denied defendant's motion, finding that the conflict of interest that caused the public defender to withdraw and necessitated defendant's waiver of his speedy trial rights resulted from the sheriff's unintentional violation of the court's order.

On October 12, defendant and the People entered into a plea agreement whereby defendant tendered his guilty plea and the original charges were dismissed. At the provi-dency hearing, defendant informed the court that he wanted to reserve the right to appeal the speedy trial ruling. The court advised him that it was unsure whether such a reservation was possible and that his guilty plea might constitute a waiver of his right to appeal the speedy trial ruling. Defendant indicated that he understood, and the court accepted his plea.

II. Defendant's Right to Appeal

As a threshold matter, we address the People's contention that defendant waived his right to appeal the trial court's speedy trial ruling by pleading guilty to the charge. We conclude that he did not waive his right to appeal the court's ruling regarding his statutory right to speedy trial, but that he waived his right to appeal the ruling regarding his constitutional right to speedy trial.

A. Statutory Right to Speedy Trial

The improper denial of a defendant's motion to dismiss for violation of his or her statutory right to a speedy trial divests the trial court of jurisdiction to proceed. Hampton v. Dist. Court, 199 Colo. 104, 605 P.2d 54 (1980); People v. Aragon, 44 Colo.App. 550, 558, 622 P.2d 579, 581 (1980)(Aragon 1), aff'd on other grounds, 648 P.2d 48 (Colo.1982)(Aragon II).

However, the timing of the plea in relation to the court's denial determines whether the right to appeal survives the plea. If the defendant moves to dismiss for violation of speedy trial before entering his or her guilty plea, the plea does not result in a waiver of defendant's right to appeal from the denial of the motion to dismiss. See Moody v. Corsentino, 848 P.2d 1355 (Colo.19983)(concluding the defendant waived his statutory right to speedy trial because he failed to move for dismissal of the charges before entering his plea.).

Here, defendant moved to dismiss the charges based on violation of his speedy trial right on October 1, 2001, and he entered his plea of guilty on October 12. Accordingly, we may consider his statutory speedy trial argument.

Turning to the merits, defendant argues that his statutory right to a speedy trial was violated because the May 8 and the May [1097]*109711 waivers are both attributable to the bad faith actions of the sheriff in failing to segregate him from the adult prisoners. We are not persuaded.

Under § 18-1405, C.R.8.2008, the defendant has the right to have charges dismissed if he or she is not brought to trial within six months following a not guilty plea. However, if a trial date has been fixed by the court and the defendant requests and is granted a continuance, the period within which the defendant may be tried is extended another six months beyond the date of the continuance. Section 18-1-405(8), C.R.8.2003.

Absent a showing of bad faith by the prosecutor, such as a last-minute ploy to cireumvent the speedy trial requirements, the defendant's strategic decision to seek a trial continuance and waive the right to a speedy trial is chargeable to him or her for purposes of the speedy trial statute. See People v. Duncan, 31 P.3d 874, 877-78 (Colo.2001); Hampton v. Dist. Court, supra.

If the defendant satisfies his or her initial burden of making a prima facie showing of bad faith, the prosecution then assumes the burden of rebutting such evidence.

The trial court's finding whether the prosecution has acted in bad faith will be upheld if supported by the record. See People v. Duncan, suproe; Hampton v. Dist. Court, supra.

Here, even assuming the sheriffs action should be charged against the prosecution for speedy trial purposes, there is no evidence that the sheriff acted in bad faith in violating the segregation order. Nor is there evidence suggesting the sheriff could have anticipated that his violation of the segregation order would result in the withdrawal of defendant's public defender and a delay of the proceedings.

We therefore perceive no error by the trial court in finding defendant failed to make a prima facie showing of bad faith interference with his speedy trial rights. Accordingly, we conclude the trial court did not err in finding that the May 8 and 11 speedy trial waivers were valid, and that defendant's statutory right to a speedy trial was not violated.

B. Constitutional Right to Speedy Trial

We reach a different conclusion regarding defendant's right to appeal the trial court's denial of defendant's motion to dismiss based upon an alleged violation of his constitutional right to speedy trial. We conclude that such an alleged violation does not raise a jurisdictional issue, and therefore, that defendant waived the right of appeal that issue by pleading guilty to the charge.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

People v. Conlon
2025 COA 79 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025)
Peo in Interest of DM
Colorado Court of Appeals, 2025
People v. McMurtry
122 P.3d 237 (Supreme Court of Colorado, 2005)
People v. Owen
122 P.3d 1006 (Colorado Court of Appeals, 2005)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
101 P.3d 1098, 2003 Colo. App. LEXIS 1858, 2003 WL 22860902, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/people-v-mcmurtry-coloctapp-2003.