State v. Gaines

5 So. 3d 915, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0967, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 228, 2009 WL 367828
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedFebruary 11, 2009
Docket2008-KA-0967
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 5 So. 3d 915 (State v. Gaines) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Gaines, 5 So. 3d 915, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0967, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 228, 2009 WL 367828 (La. Ct. App. 2009).

Opinions

MAX N. TOBIAS, JR., Judge.

hOn 20 March 2007, the defendant, Tony Gaines (“Gaines”), was charged with possession of heroin. A plea of not guilty was entered on 30 March 2007. On 30 November 2007, counsel was appointed and several pretrial motions were filed. A hearing on motions was held on 18 January 2008; the district court found probable cause and denied the motion to suppress the evidence. On 1 and 22 February 2008, the defense filed a motion for subpoena duces tecum. Gaines’ trial that was scheduled for 3 March 2008 was continued at the request of the defense because it had yet to receive a response to the motion for subpoena duces tecum. Trial was then rescheduled for 24 April 2008. On 14 March 2008, the defense filed a motion to quash the bill of information, asserting that Gaines’ constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. The trial court granted the motion on 11 April 2008, and the state’s timely motion to appeal the ruling was granted on 14 April 2008.

FACTS

Because this appeal pertains to the granting of a motion to quash based upon the denial of the right to a speedy trial, the facts relating to Gaines’ arrest are not pertinent.

19,DISCUSSION

The only issue in this appeal is whether the district court erred when it granted Gaines’ motion to quash the indictment. In the motion and supporting memorandum, he argued that his constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated.

In State v. Batiste, 05-1571, pp. 6-7 (La.10/17/06), 939 So.2d 1245, 1250, the Court discussed the legal principles which pertain to a claim that a defendant’s constitutional right to speedy trial has been denied:

The constitutional right to a speedy trial is imposed upon the states by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223, 87 S.Ct. 988, 993, 18 L.Ed.2d 1 (1967). The underlying purpose of this constitutional right is to protect a defendant’s interest in preventing pretrial incarceration, limiting possible impairment of his defense, and minimizing his anxiety and concern. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 515, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2184, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). [917]*917The Supreme Court has set forth the following four factors for courts to consider in determining whether a defendant’s right to a speedy trial has been violated: (1) the length of the delay; (2) the reasons for the delay; (3) the accused’s assertion of his right to speedy trial; and (4) the prejudice to the accused resulting from the delay. Id. at 531-532, 92 S.Ct. at 2192-93; see also State v. Reaves, 376 So.2d 136 (La.1979) (adopting Barker factors). The specific circumstances of a case will determine the weight to be ascribed to the length of and reason for the delay because “the delay that can be tolerated for an ordinary street crime is considerably less than for a serious, complex conspiracy charge.” [State v.] Reaves, 376 So.2d at 138 (quoting Barker, 407 U.S. at 531, 92 S.Ct. at 2192).

The United States Supreme Court made the following observations concerning a defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 515, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2184, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972):

| ^Finally, and perhaps most importantly, the right to a speedy trial is a more vague concept than other procedural rights. It is, for example, impossible to determine with precision when the right has been denied. We cannot definitely say how long is too long in a system where justice is supposed to be swift but deliberate. As a consequence, there is no fixed point in the criminal process when the State can put the defendant to the choice of either exercising or waiving the right to a speedy trial. If, for example, the State moves for a 60-day continuance, granting that continuance is not a violation of the right to speedy trial unless the circumstances of the case are such that further delay would endanger the value the right protects. It is impossible to do more than generalize about when those circumstances exist.... Thus, as we recognized in Beavers v. Haubert, ... [198 U.S. 77, 25 S.Ct. 573, 49 L.Ed. 950 (1905)], any inquiry into a speedy trial claim necessitates a functional analysis of the right in the particular context of the case: “The right of a speedy trial is necessarily relative. It is consistent with delays and depends upon circumstances. It secures rights of a defendant. It does not preclude the rights of public justice.” 198 U.S. at 87, 25 S.Ct. at 576, 49 L.Ed. 950.
The amorphous quality of the right also leads to the unsatisfactorily severe remedy of dismissal of the indictment when the right has been deprived. This is indeed a serious consequence because it means that a defendant who may be guilty of a serious crime will go free, without having been tried. Such a remedy is more serious than an exclusionary rule or a reversal for a new trial, but it is the only possible remedy.

Barker, 407 U.S. at 522-23, 92 S.Ct. at 2187-2188.

In addition, the first of the four Barker v. Wingo factors, the length of the delay, is the “triggering mechanism,” and if the length of the delay is not “presumptively prejudicial,” the court need not inquire into the other three Barker factors. See State v. Scott, 04-1142 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/27/05), 913 So.2d 843; State v. Santiago, 03-0693 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/23/03), 853 So.2d 671.

In the case at bar, Gaines was arrested on 10 January 2007. The bill of information was filed on 20 March 2007. The motion to quash was filed on 14 |4March 2008, and the court granted the motion on 11 April 2008. Thus, the delay from Games’ arrest to dismissal was approximately fifteen months, and the delay from [918]*918the institution of prosecution to dismissal was approximately thirteen months.

Most cases discussing whether the time limits are presumptively prejudicial considered the time between the filing of the bill of information or indictment and the granting of the motion to quash. In State v. Leban, 611 So.2d 165 (La.App. 4th Cir. 1992), the state appealed the quashing of an arson charge against the defendant. This court found the sixteen-month delay between the filing of the bill and the quashing of the charge to be presumptively prejudicial, thereby triggering consideration of the three remaining Barker factors. In State v. Johnson, 622 So.2d 845 (La.App. 4th Cir.1993), a delay of twenty-two months was found not to be excessive. This court in State v. Brown, 93-0666 (La. App. 4 Cir. 7/27/94), 641 So.2d 687, did not specifically state that nineteen months was presumptively prejudicial, but we nevertheless considered all the Barker factors. This court reversed the granting of the motion to quash, finding that the defendant did not show any prejudice resulting from the nineteen-month delay. The Louisiana Supreme Court in State v. Love, 00-3347 (La.5/23/03), 847 So.2d 1198, found that a twenty-two-month delay was presumptively prejudicial but the defendant’s right to a speedy trial was still not violated.

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Bluebook (online)
5 So. 3d 915, 2008 La.App. 4 Cir. 0967, 2009 La. App. LEXIS 228, 2009 WL 367828, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-gaines-lactapp-2009.