Smith v. Superior Court

178 Cal. App. 4th 373, 100 Cal. Rptr. 3d 370
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal
DecidedOctober 13, 2009
DocketA124763
StatusPublished

This text of 178 Cal. App. 4th 373 (Smith v. Superior Court) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Smith v. Superior Court, 178 Cal. App. 4th 373, 100 Cal. Rptr. 3d 370 (Cal. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinion

178 Cal.App.4th 373 (2009)

DONALD SMITH, Petitioner,
v.
THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Respondent;
THE PEOPLE, Real Party in Interest.

No. A124763.

Court of Appeals of California, First District, Division Five.

October 13, 2009.

*375 Jeff Adachi, Public Defender, Teresa Caffese, Chief Attorney, Doug Welch and Charmaine Yu, Deputy Public Defenders, for Petitioner.

No appearance for Respondent.

Edmund G. Brown, Jr., Attorney General, Gerald A. Engler, Assistant Attorney General, Laurence K. Sullivan and Stan Helfman, Deputy Attorneys General, for Real Party in Interest.

*376 OPINION

BRUINIERS, J.—

Donald Smith (Smith) contends that his statutory right to a speedy trial has been violated and seeks writ relief from the denial of his motion to dismiss. We agree and will grant the requested relief.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On February 10, 2009,[1] an information was filed, jointly charging Smith and Christopher Sims (Sims) with one felony count of first degree residential burglary (Pen. Code, § 459).[2] Smith was arraigned on February 11, and his statutory right to trial within 60 days of that date (§ 1382) was not waived. April 13 was calculated as the last day for trial. The court was informed on April 10 that counsel for codefendant Sims was ill and unavailable for trial. As to Smith, the court indicated its intent to sever or dismiss because the last day for trial was the following Monday, April 13. However, the People argued that good cause existed to continue the case for both defendants and not effect a severance.

On April 13, the last statutory day for trial, the court was informed that Sims's counsel remained ill and unavailable. Counsel for Smith objected to any continuance as to his client. The court, however, found good cause to continue the trial for both defendants, noting: "Greenberger [v. Superior Court (1990) 219 Cal.App.3d 487 [267 Cal.Rptr. 849]] says essentially this is an issue [of] whether a joinder overrides defendant's right to a speedy trial. Greenberger says if the only reason to continue a case past the last day is to keep the cases joined, that's not good cause under [section] 1382 . . . . But another reason, like, for example, one of the attorneys needs more time to investigate, then—I'm going to interpret that as the situation here—where one attorney is ill and not able to come to court, that does constitute good cause to continue this past the last day for the codefendant, as well as the defendant, who is represented by the ill attorney." The court further indicated: "Today is pretty much still the last day. We will trail it day by day. I have to find out what [Sims's counsel's] condition is, when he can be able to come back, and when he will be able to tell me: Yes, I'm ready to go to trial. [¶] So I think the only safe thing to do is trail it day by day and put it over to the 14th."

On April 14 and April 16, the court made further findings of good cause to continue the trial of both defendants, over Smith's objection, due to the continuing unavailability of Sims's attorney. On April 17, Sims's counsel *377 appeared and stated that he anticipated being ready to try the case in a week. The court found good cause for continuing the matter to April 22, again over Smith's objection, but also indicated: "What we have to do, we have to be sure that I have counsel who's available, in the sense of well enough to do it. But then I will kick it to the last day, and I have to find a courtroom."[3]

On April 23, Sims's counsel remained ill but told the court he would be ready to try the case on April 27. The court stated: "For the record, [Sims's counsel] will be available and ready to try this and fully recovered on Monday, which means the last day for trial, according to case law, would be 10 days after Monday, April . . . 27th. [¶] So by my calculations, May 7th would be the last day." Smith maintained his objection to further continuances.

On April 27, the court, without discussion and over Smith's objection, "rolled" the case over until April 28. The matter was recalled later that same day, when Smith's counsel was not present, and the following exchange occurred on the record:

"[THE PEOPLE]: Can we recall one more matter? Line 402. It's the Sims matter. Mr. Lefcourt, can we put that matter over until the 28th? It's a no-time waiver. So I need some clarification on the record from [Sims's counsel].

"THE COURT: Mr. Lefcourt, on Christopher Simms [sic] we rolled it over until tomorrow. Ms. Lee needs clarification.

"[THE PEOPLE]: Well, it's past the—

"[SIMS'S COUNSEL]: No. No.

"[THE PEOPLE]:—last day. I just want to—

"THE COURT: It's not past the last day.

"[SIMS'S COUNSEL]: There was a ruling. The last day is May 7th.

"[THE PEOPLE]: Okay. As long as that's clear. [Smith's counsel] has been objecting all this time on the codefendant matter.

"THE COURT: I have it listed as May 7th as the last day."

*378 On April 28, Smith's counsel moved to dismiss. Although the record before us does not include an explicit ruling on the motion, the parties agree that the motion was denied. After Smith filed the instant petition, we stayed the trial court proceedings against him and issued an order to show cause.

II. DISCUSSION

In this case we are required to reconcile the legislatively expressed preference for joint prosecutions with the right of a defendant to a speedy trial. We must interpret and apply the relevant provisions of section 1382, and consider the application and effect, if any, of section 1050.1, enacted by the voters in 1990 in Proposition 115.

(1) "The right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right. [Citation.] It is guaranteed by the state and federal Constitutions. (U.S. Const., 6th Amend.; Cal. Const., art. I, § 15.) The Legislature has also provided for `"a speedy and public" trial as one of the fundamental rights preserved to a defendant in a criminal action. (§ 686, subd. 1.)' [Citation.] To implement an accused's constitutional right to a speedy trial, the Legislature enacted section 1382. [Citation.] [¶] That section `constitutes a legislative endorsement of dismissal as a proper judicial sanction for violation of the constitutional guarantee of a speedy trial and as a legislative determination that a trial delayed more than [the prescribed period] is prima facie in violation of a defendant's constitutional right.' [Citation.] Thus, an accused is entitled to a dismissal if he is `brought to trial' beyond the time fixed in section 1382. [Citation.]" (Rhinehart v. Municipal Court (1984) 35 Cal.3d 772, 776 [200 Cal.Rptr. 916, 677 P.2d 1206].)

(2) Section 1382 provides, in relevant part: "(a) The court, unless good cause to the contrary is shown, shall order the action to be dismissed in the following cases: [¶] (1) When a person has been held to answer for a public offense and an information is not filed against that person within 15 days. [¶] (2) In a felony case, when a defendant is not brought to trial within 60 days of the defendant's arraignment on an indictment or information, or reinstatement of criminal proceedings . . . . However, an action shall not be dismissed under this paragraph if either of the following circumstances exist: [¶] (A) The defendant enters a general waiver of the 60-day trial requirement.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
178 Cal. App. 4th 373, 100 Cal. Rptr. 3d 370, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/smith-v-superior-court-calctapp-2009.