State v. Howell

581 S.W.2d 461, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2812
CourtMissouri Court of Appeals
DecidedMay 2, 1979
DocketNo. 10685
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 581 S.W.2d 461 (State v. Howell) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Missouri Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Howell, 581 S.W.2d 461, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2812 (Mo. Ct. App. 1979).

Opinion

FLANIGAN, Chief Judge.

The amended information charged the defendant with murdering David Blankenship and assaulting (with intent to kill with [462]*462malice aforethought) Randy Krebs. The offenses, which arose out of the same incident, were committed on November 18, 1972. Defendant was arrested on November 19, 1972, and has been in custody since that date.

Originally the offenses were charged in separate informations and were tried separately. Those trials resulted in convictions in 1973. The appeals were consolidated, the convictions were reversed and the cases remanded. State v. Howell, 524 S.W.2d 11 (Mo. banc 1975). Following remand an amended information was filed charging the crimes in two counts. Defendant was found guilty on both counts.' On appeal to this court, the judgment was reversed and the cause again remanded. State v. Howell, 543 S.W.2d 836 (Mo.App. 1976).

The fourth jury trial, from which the instant appeal is prosecuted, took place on February 4, 1977, and resulted in conviction on both counts. The jury assessed a punishment of life imprisonment for the murder and 30 years’ imprisonment for the assault, and the court ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

On this appeal defendant’s sole “point relied on” is that the trial court erred in denying the motion to dismiss which he filed on January 28, 1977. The motion was based on his claim that he had been denied his right to a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States and Art. I, § 18(a) of the Constitution of Missouri. A chronology of significant events is set forth below.1

As an examination of footnote 1 will disclose, a claim of infringement of defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial could not reasonably be leveled against the trial court or the prosecuting attorney. Although four jury trials have been held, the trial court phase of each of them was conducted with admirable dispatch. If defendant’s point is a sound one, its validity must stem from those segments of time, between arrest and the fourth trial, which are attributable to the processing of the appeals.

The Supreme Court of the United States, in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972) first “attempted to set out the criteria by which the speedy trial right is to be judged.” 92 S.Ct. at 2185. The court rejected “the inflexible approaches—the fixed-time period because it goes further than the Constitution requires; the demand-waiver rule because it is insensitive to a right which we have deemed fundamental.” The court accepted “a balancing test, in which the conduct of both the prosecution and the defendant are weighed.” Barker, supra, 92 S.Ct. at 2191-2192.

“A balancing test necessarily compels courts to approach speedy trial cases on an ad hoc basis. We can do little more than identify some of the factors which courts should assess in determining whether a particular defendant has been deprived of his right. Though some might express them in different ways, we identify four such factors: Length of delay, the reason for the [463]*463delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.” Barker, supra, 92 S.Ct. at 2192.

“We regard none of the four factors identified above as either a necessary or sufficient condition to the finding of a deprivation of the right of speedy trial. Rather, they are related factors and must be considered together with such other circumstances as may be relevant. In sum, these factors have no talismanic qualities; courts must still engage in a difficult and sensitive balancing process. But, because we are dealing with a fundamental right of the accused, this process must be carried out with full recognition that the accused’s interest in a speedy trial is specifically affirmed in the Constitution.” Barker, supra, 92 S.Ct. at 2193.

In State v. Lane, 551 S.W.2d 900 (Mo. App. 1977) the defendant asserted that he had been denied his right to a speedy trial. The defendant was indicted on December 6, 1968, was convicted at some unstated time, was granted a new trial by the trial court on April 15, 1970, and was again convicted on July 9, 1970. The supreme court affirmed that conviction on December 13, 1971. State v. Lane, 475 S.W.2d 91 (Mo. 1971). On September 20, 1973, the defendant waged a successful attack upon the conviction and the circuit court vacated it. The third trial took place on May 20, 1974.

The court of appeals, in its 1977 opinion, rejected the defendant’s claim that he was entitled to be discharged on the basis of denial of his right to a speedy trial. The court quoted State v. Thompson, 414 S.W.2d 261 (Mo. 1967) to the effect that a delay caused by an appeal is “attributable to defendant.”

Since the decision in Barker, other courts, out-state and federal, have dealt with “speedy trial” complaints based primarily or solely upon delay attributable to prior appeals. Those courts have demonstrated a marked reluctance, if not unwillingness, to treat such claims with favor.

The Supreme Court of Michigan has said, “Defendant certainly had a right to appeal but time reasonably consumed on appeal cannot be considered as in derogation of a speedy trial,” (Emphasis added); People v. Chism, 390 Mich. 104, 113, 211 N.W.2d 193, 197[3] (1973); to similar effect see People v. Hammond, 84 Mich.App. 60, 269 N.W.2d 488 (1978).

Several courts have stated that the right to a speedy trial, under the Sixth Amendment, does not include a right to speed in the appellate process itself. Wilson v. State, 281 Md. 640, 382 A.2d 1053, 1068[22] (1978); Colunga v. State, 527 S.W.2d 285, 288[7] (Tex.Cr.App. 1975); State v. Lane, 302 So.2d 880, 887[16] (La. 1974); Shack v. State, 259 Ind. 450, 288 N.E.2d 155, 158 (1972). As Colunga points out, however, a delay on appeal may, in some circumstances, amount to a denial of due process. See also U. S. v. Sarvis, 173 U.S.App.D.C. 228, 523 F.2d 1177 (1975), discussed infra.

In United States v. Robles, 563 F.2d 1308, 9 Cir. (1977) the defendant argued, unsuccessfully, that “the three-year delay from the date of the offense to his retrial (after his successful appeal)” denied him his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment. The court said, at 1309:

“This argument is without merit.

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Bluebook (online)
581 S.W.2d 461, 1979 Mo. App. LEXIS 2812, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-howell-moctapp-1979.