State v. Cuezze, Houston & Faltico

589 P.2d 626, 225 Kan. 274, 1979 Kan. LEXIS 209
CourtSupreme Court of Kansas
DecidedJanuary 20, 1979
Docket50,123
StatusPublished
Cited by39 cases

This text of 589 P.2d 626 (State v. Cuezze, Houston & Faltico) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Cuezze, Houston & Faltico, 589 P.2d 626, 225 Kan. 274, 1979 Kan. LEXIS 209 (kan 1979).

Opinions

The opinion of the court was delivered by

Holmes, J.:

This is a direct appeal by the State pursuant to K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 22-3602(b)(l) from an order of the district court dismissing all three counts in a criminal information in case number 77CR0769 against John Cuezze and Dorothy Houston for failure to grant the defendants a speedy trial, and dismissing the third count of the information against Patrick Faltico, a codefendant, on the ground that venue did not lie in Wyandotte County. Counts I and II of the information are still pending against Faltico.

On February 2, 1977, charges were filed against Cuezze, Houston and R. C. Ambler, in case number 77CR0144, charging all three defendants with two counts of making a false writing (K.S.A. 21-3711) and two counts of conspiracy (K.S.A. 21-3711 [275]*275and 21-3302). Patrick Faltico was named in the original information as a coconspirator but was not charged. The preliminary hearing for Cuezze and Houston was held April 6th and 7th, and on April 22,1977, both defendants were bound over for trial. The third defendant, Ambler, was granted immunity in exchange for his testimony at the preliminary hearing and charges against him were dismissed. Houston was arraigned May' 20, 1977, and Cuezze on June 13, 1977. It is the State’s position that at the time of filing the original information, there was not enough evidence to include Faltico as a defendant. In the latter part of May, 1977, an inquisition was held which resulted in additional evidence against Faltico. Over three months later, on September 2, 1977, the district attorney filed a new case, number 77CR0769, against Cuezze, Houston and Faltico. The new case was a three count information charging all three defendants with one count of conspiracy and two counts of making a false writing. The charges against Cuezze and Houston in the second case were essentially the same as in the first information except one count of conspiracy was dropped. On September 20, 1977, the charges pending against Cuezze and Houston, in case number 77CR0144, were dismissed.

A preliminary hearing on the charges in the second case was held November 7 to 10, 1977. On December 9, 1977, the defendants were bound over for trial on all three counts. Houston and Faltico were arraigned on January 19, 1978, and Cuezze on January 20, 1978. A pretrial conference was held February 16, 1978, and numerous pretrial motions were filed by each of the defendants. After hearing various motions, the court, on May 18, 1978, dismissed all three counts of the information against the defendants Cuezze and Houston and dismissed Count III against Faltico.

Count I of the second information charged all three defendants with conspiracy to make a false writing. Count II charged the defendants with making a false writing in an application for a Kansas City, Kansas, city license and Count III charged the defendants with making a false writing in a Kansas state sales tax registration application.

We will first consider the dismissal of the charges against Cuezze and Houston. Among the various motions filed by these defendants was one for a dismissal on the grounds that defend[276]*276ants Cuezze and Houston had been denied their right to a speedy trial as required by K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 22-3402 and the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. The defendants were free on bond at all stages of the proceedings in both cases.

K.S.A. 1978 Supp. 22-3402(2) provides in part:

“If any person charged with a crime and held to answer on an appearance bond shall not be brought to trial within one hundred eighty (180) days after arraignment on the charge, such person shall be entitled to be discharged from further liability to be tried for the crime charged, unless the delay shall happen as a result of the application or fault of the defendant '. . .

Three hundred thirty-nine days elapsed from the time of the arraignment of defendant Cuezze in the first case on June 13, 1977, to May 18, 1978, the date of the trial court’s memorandum opinion dismissing the charges. Three hundred sixty-three days elapsed from the time of the first arraignment of Houston on May 20, 1977. The learned trial judge, in his written findings, conclusions and opinion, stated in part:

“It is clear that the right to a speedy trial is a fundamental right guaranteed to an accused. But it is also generally recognized that it is a relative right, consistent with reasonable delays, and that the right depends upon the circumstances of each case, and where the totality of the circumstances of the delay is violative of defendant’s right to a speedy trial, the defendant is entitled to be discharged.
“It is generally held that delay reasonably chargeable to the defendant is not to be computed in determining whether he has been denied a speedy trial. Conversely, delay reasonably chargeable to the State should be included. Nor is time the only factor to be considered.
“In this case, it is not disputed that insofar as defendants Cuezze and Houston are concerned, identical charges were filed against them in both cases. The same charges have been pending against these defendants, without interruption, since February 2, 1977, almost 16 months. No reason is given for dismissing the first case and refiling a new information except perhaps to include Faltieo as a charged co-conspirator. The record does not indicate that the delay was caused by the State to hamper the defendants or for any questionable purpose. However, the time elapsed between the date of defendant Cuezze’s arraignment in the first case on June 13, 1977, and the present time (May 18, 1978) amounts to 339 days. The elapsed time between defendant Houston’s arraignment in the first case on May 20, 1977, and the present time (May 18) amounts to 363 days. Defendant Cuezze admits to 52 days delay by agreement. Even so, the balance rather substantially exceeds the 180 days limitation the legislature has established for bringing a defendant to trial, none of which has been caused directly or indirectly by the defendants.
“During this time, the defendants have been subjected to considerable anxiety and concern. They have been subjected to two preliminary hearings and a significant increase in attorney fees. There has been no demonstration of prejudice to defendant’s defense, but none is required (Moore vs Arizona, 414 U.S. 25). In [277]*277my opinion, under the circumstances here, defendants Cuezze and Houston have been denied a speedy trial, and the charges against them should be dismissed.”

It is the position of the State that there was no violation of K.S.A. 1978 Supp.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
589 P.2d 626, 225 Kan. 274, 1979 Kan. LEXIS 209, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-cuezze-houston-faltico-kan-1979.