State v. Corrado

972 P.2d 515, 94 Wash. App. 228
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 26, 1999
Docket21424-5-II
StatusPublished
Cited by26 cases

This text of 972 P.2d 515 (State v. Corrado) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Corrado, 972 P.2d 515, 94 Wash. App. 228 (Wash. Ct. App. 1999).

Opinion

Armstrong, A.C.J.

— George Corrado was initially charged with attempted first-degree murder. The jury acquitted Corrado of attempted first-degree murder, but convicted him of attempted second-degree murder. On appeal, we reversed because the State had tried Corrado without filing charges. 1 On remand, the State charged attempted first-degree and attempted second-degree murder. Corrado moved to dismiss on double jeopardy grounds. On August 28, 1995, the trial court granted the motion and the State appealed. But Corrado remained jailed on $25,000 bail. While the appeal was pending, Corrado filed with this court a “Motion for Emergency Proceeding,” arguing that his imprisonment violated (1) his right to bail, Const, art. I, § 20, and (2) Criminal Rule 8.8 (release of a defendant after a dismissal) and Rule of Appellate Procedure 7.2(f) (release of defendant in a criminal case pending appeal). By an order dated October 4, 1995, we denied the motion for emergency release and set the case for accelerated review.

On May 10, 1996, we filed our opinion holding that double jeopardy barred reprosecution of Corrado for attempted first-degree murder but not for attempted second-degree murder. Corrado was then charged with and convicted of attempted second-degree murder. On this appeal, Corrado contends that incarcerating him for 11 *232 months pending the State’s appeal violated his constitutional rights to a speedy trial and to due process of law.

A. Speedy Trial

The United States Constitution provides, “In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial[.]” U.S. Const, amend. VI. The Washington Constitution similarly provides, “In criminal prosecutions the accused shall have the right to . . . have a speedy public trial[.]” Const, art. I, § 22.

The Sixth Amendment right to speedy trial attaches when a charge is filed or an arrest made, whichever occurs first. State v. Higley, 78 Wn. App. 172, 184, 902 P.2d 659 (1995) (citing United States v. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. 302, 310-11, 106 S. Ct. 648, 88 L. Ed. 2d 640 (1986)). And when no charge is pending, the actual restraint of an arrest triggers Sixth Amendment speedy trial protections. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. at 310 (citing United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 320, 92 S. Ct. 455, 30 L. Ed. 2d 468 (1971)).

Here, Corrado was incarcerated after the charges were dismissed, pending the State’s appeal. Thus, Corrado was under actual restraint, which mandates analysis under the Sixth Amendment.

The United States Supreme Court has discussed the right to a speedy trial:

[T]his Court has consistently been of the view that “The right of a speedy trial is necessarily relative. It is consistent with delays and depends upon circumstances. It secures rights to a defendant. It does not preclude the rights of public justice.” “Whether delay in completing a prosecution . . . amounts to an unconstitutional deprivation of rights depends upon the circumstances. . . . The delay must not be purposeful or oppressive[.]” “[T]he essential ingredient is orderly expedition and not mere speed.”

United States v. Ewell, 383 U.S. 116, 120, 86 S. Ct. 773, 15 L. Ed. 2d 627 (1966) (citations omitted) (alteration in original).

*233 The right to a speedy trial is violated not when a fixed time expires, but when a reasonable time expires. Higley, 78 Wn. App. at 185 (citing Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 537, 92 S. Ct. 2182, 33 L. Ed. 2d 101 (1972) (White, J., concurring)). Of importance in deciding what is a reasonable time in a particular case are the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, whether the defendant asserted his right to speedy trial, and whether the delay prejudiced the defendant. Higley, 78 Wn. App at 184 (citing Barker, 407 U.S. at 530); State v. Fladebo, 113 Wn.2d 388, 393, 779 P.2d 707 (1989). Although not essential to finding a violation of speedy trial rights, prejudice is a major consideration. Higley, 78 Wn. App. at 184 (citing Moore v. Arizona, 414 U.S. 25, 26, 94 S. Ct. 188, 38 L. Ed. 2d 183 (1973)).

Length of Delay

Corrado contends that the length of the delay was “presumptively prejudicial.” At the threshold, a defendant who makes a speedy trial argument must show that the State failed to prosecute his case with customary promptness. Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 652, 112 S. Ct. 2686, 120 L. Ed. 2d 520 (1992). If the defendant makes this showing, then the court must consider the extent of the delay. Id. And the presumption that delay has prejudiced the defendant “intensifies over time.” Id.

The Doggett court suggested that a delay of one year is presumptively prejudicial. Id. at 652 n.1. Other courts have noted that shorter delays are presumptively prejudicial. United States v. Beamon, 992 F.2d 1009, 1012-13 (9th Cir. 1993) (noting that the second circuit in United States v. Vassell, 970 F.2d 1162, 1164 (2d Cir. 1992), found a general consensus that eight months’ delay is presumptively prejudicial). See also United States ex rel. Fitzgerald v. Jordan, 747 F.2d 1120, 1127 (7th Cir. 1984) (delay of eight months is enough to provoke a speedy trial inquiry).

The delay of over eleven months here is beyond the eight- *234 month threshold from Vassell, and very close to the one-year threshold in Doggett. We therefore hold that the delay was presumptively prejudicial. However, this presumption is just one factor to be weighed in determining whether Corrado’s speedy trial rights have been violated.

The reason for the delay

Corrado’s trial delay was caused by the State’s appeal of the erroneous dismissal of the charge of attempted second-degree murder. Thus, the delay was not the fault of the State. Such a delay is not the “purposeful or oppressive” delay condemned in Ewell, 383 U.S. at 120. And to punish the State for an error of the trial court would infringe, without reason, upon the “rights of public justice.” Id. (citation omitted).

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972 P.2d 515, 94 Wash. App. 228, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-corrado-washctapp-1999.