State v. Deckard

459 S.W.2d 342, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 828
CourtSupreme Court of Missouri
DecidedNovember 9, 1970
DocketNo. 53480
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 459 S.W.2d 342 (State v. Deckard) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Missouri primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Deckard, 459 S.W.2d 342, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 828 (Mo. 1970).

Opinions

WELBORN, Commissioner.

Appellant Hubert Deckard was indicted on January 25, 1967 by a Jackson County Grand Jury for selling heroin. The indictment charged that the offense occurred on November 19, 1965.

On June 7, 1967, Deckard appeared in the Jackson County Circuit Court and pleaded guilty to the charge. Four other charges pending against him were dismissed at that time. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered.

On July 17, 1967, Deckard, represented by counsel other than that at the plea of guilty, filed a motion to set aside his plea of guilty and to dismiss the charge on the grounds that the unwarranted delay from the time of the alleged offense to the filing of the charge violated his right to a speedy trial under federal and state constitutional guaranties.

The motion was heard on July 20, 1967. The defendant did not testify. The facts of the sale on November 19, 1965 and the indictment on January 25, 1967 were stipulated. It was agreed that the sale had been made to one Gilkey, an informant who made the purchase at Deckard’s house; that Gil-key had testified on deposition a few days prior to the hearing that he had also bought heroin from Deckard in March, 1966, and again in May, 1966.

An agent of the Bureau of Narcotics, called as a witness by the state, testified that he participated in the investigation of Deckard’s activities; that Gilkey was an informer for the Bureau; that the delay in the filing of the charges against Deckard was because the earlier arrest of Deckard would have jeopardized other investigations pending in the district.

On July 21, 1967, the judge overruled the motion to withdraw the plea, stating that the defendant had shown no prejudice by reason of the delay. The court then proceeded to sentence defendant to ten years’ imprisonment. When asked by the court whether or not he had any legal cause to show why sentence should not be pronounced, Deckard stated: “Yes, sir, I would like to state the State delayed after so long an alleged crime in arresting me and filing the charges. That it is impossible for me to remember what I was doing on 19, November, ’65. So I could not prepare a defense. That is the reason why I pleaded guilty to the charge.”

Subsequently Deckard filed a motion under Supreme Court Rules 27.25 and 27.26, V.A.M.R., seeking to set aside his conviction. The ground for relief alleged was that the filing of charges against him had been delayed so long after the date of the offense that defendant could not prepare a defense.

At the hearing on the motion Deckard was present and was represented by the attorney who had represented him on the previously overruled motion to withdraw the plea of guilty. No evidence was offered on the motion. In presenting the motion, counsel referred to the stipulation in the earlier proceeding that the offense alleged[344]*344ly occurred on November 19, 1965 and the indictment was filed January 25, 1967. The court stated that it was agreed that “the Court would take those facts as true in connection with your earlier motion to withdraw his plea.” Counsel stated that was all the movant had to offer and stated that he was relying on “the opinion from the Circuit Court of Appeals to the District of Columbia.” Apparently the reference was to Woody v. United States, 125 U.S.App.D.C. 192, 370 F.2d 214, which had been referred to in the prior proceeding.

The court then summarized the findings shown by the record and concluded “as a matter of law that the cause was instituted within the statute of limitations applicable to this cause and that Defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial was not denied.” Without objection to the. trial court’s finding, this appeal followed.

Appellant’s contention on this appeal is that the 14-month delay in his arrest following the offense violated his right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States, applicable to the states through the Fourteenth Amendment, and by Art. I, § 18(a) of the Constitution of Missouri, 1945, V.A.M.S., and denied him due process of law under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Appellant alleges that for such reason the trial court erred in overruling his motion to set aside the plea of guilty, his motion to dismiss the indictment and his motion under Rule 27.26, supra.

We are here concerned only with the second motion. No appeal was taken from the overruling of the motion to set aside the plea of guilty or to dismiss the indictment filed prior to sentencing. At the hearing on the second motion, although the defendant was present, no testimony was offered in support of the motion. There was no stipulation that the proceedings on the prior motion to withdraw the plea might be considered on the second motion. The only stipulation was to the dates of the alleged offense and of the indictment. The trial court ruled the matter as one of law. No request was made that the trial court reconsider its determination on that basis. Thus the appeal before us is limited to the record on the second motion and the trial court’s conclusion on a matter of law. No factual determinations of the trial court are before us for review.

Appellant is seeking relief under a doctrine which appears to have originated in the courts of the District of Columbia. Ross v. United States (1965), 121 U.S.App.D.C. 233, 349 F.2d 210, is one of the early cases which recognized that, without regard for the statute of limitations, a delay between the offense and the arrest may so prejudice the defendant as to constitute either deprivation of right to a speedy trial or of liberty without due process of law. In Ross, a narcotics violator whose arrest was seven months after the offense, who made a plausible claim of inability to recall events of the day of the offense, and whose conviction was based solely upon the recollection of one undercover police officer, refreshed by a notebook, was ordered discharged. A conviction in such situation would have offended the Fifth Amendment. 349 F.2d 216.

Woody v. United States (1966), 125 U.S.App.D.C. 192, 370 F.2d 214, relied upon by appellant in the trial court and on this appeal, involved a four-month delay between a narcotics sale and the arrest. Two judges of the court of appeals agreed that “a delay of four months is not so unreasonable as to warrant reversal absent special circumstances.” 370 F.2d 217. They found “special circumstances” although they did not agree on just what circumstances required reversal of the conviction. Then Judge (now Chief Justice) Burger dissented on the grounds that no prejudice by reason of delay had been shown. He asserted that Ross should “be read restrictively since it represents the outer limit of burdens placed on the prosecution of narcotics peddlers.” 370 F.2d 222.

[345]*345The Ross doctrine has had varying degrees of acceptance in other federal and state courts. See United States v. Milstein (1968) 7th Cir., 401 F.2d 51, 54 [5]; United States v. Deloney (1968) 7th Cir., 389 F.2d 324, 325; Benson v.

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Bluebook (online)
459 S.W.2d 342, 1970 Mo. LEXIS 828, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-deckard-mo-1970.