State v. Leonard

499 So. 2d 585
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedDecember 3, 1986
Docket18554-KW
StatusPublished
Cited by6 cases

This text of 499 So. 2d 585 (State v. Leonard) 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. Leonard, 499 So. 2d 585 (La. Ct. App. 1986).

Opinion

499 So.2d 585 (1986)

STATE of Louisiana, Appellee,
v.
Dennis R. LEONARD, Appellant.

No. 18554-KW.

Court of Appeal of Louisiana, Second Circuit.

December 3, 1986.

*586 Davenport, Files & Kelly by Thomas W. Davenport, Jr., Monroe, for appellant.

William J. Guste, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baton Rouge, William R. Coenen, Jr., Dist. Atty., Terry Doughty, Asst. Dist. Atty., Rayville, for appellee.

Before SEXTON and LINDSAY, JJ. and HEARD, J., Pro. Tem.

LINDSAY, Judge.

The defendant, Dennis R. Leonard, filed a writ of habeas corpus in the trial court claiming his statutory right to a speedy trial under LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 701(D) had been violated by failure of the state to commence trial within 120 days of the filing of his motion for speedy trial. Defendant claimed that under the statute, because no trial was held within the time period provided by the statute, he was entitled to release from custody without bail. The trial court found that although more than 120 days had elapsed since the filing of the motion for speedy trial while the defendant remained in custody, there was "just cause" for the delay and refused to release the defendant. The defendant applied to this court for supervisory writs which we granted September 4, 1986. We ordered the Clerk of the Fifth Judicial District Court to file with this court copies of the entire record of the original proceedings in this matter and we placed the matter on our regular court docket. For the reasons set forth below, we affirm the trial court judgment denying defendant's release without bail, recall the writ and remand to the trial court for further proceedings.

FACTS

The defendant was arrested on or about November 26, 1985 on charges of aggravated burglary and attempted first degree murder. Bail was set in the amount of $200,000. The defendant was not able to post bail.

On January 15, 1986 the defendant filed various motions including a motion for speedy trial. A bill of information was filed on January 24, 1986 charging the defendant with aggravated burglary and attempted first degree murder. The bill of *587 information was later amended to include the charge of armed robbery. On January 29, 1986 the defendant appeared in court, waived arraignment and pled not guilty. A preliminary examination was scheduled for February 11, 1986 and trial on the merits was set for trial on March 3, 1986.

On February 10, 1986, defendant filed a motion to suppress physical evidence and a hearing was held on this motion on February 25, 1986.

At this hearing, the defense called the victim of the crimes as a witness. The defendant contended that the testimony of this witness was necessary to test the truthfulness of a search warrant affidavit executed by a law enforcement officer which was the subject of the motion to suppress evidence. The state objected and the court sustained the objection. The defendant then gave oral notice of his intention to apply to this court for supervisory writs to review the trial court ruling. The trial court stayed the proceedings pending the filing of the writ application with this court and granted the defendant until March 11, 1986 to perfect his application. The original trial date of March 3, 1986 was then cancelled pending further proceedings. The defendant filed his application with this court on March 10, 1986. However, because the writ application did not comply with the requirements of Rule 4.3 of the URCA, this court refused to consider the defendant's application at that time. On April 9, 1986 the defendant filed a motion for reconsideration of his application which was then in compliance with the rules of this court. The court granted the defendant's motion for reconsideration and after review of the application, this court granted defendant's writ on May 8, 1986 and ordered that the defendant be allowed to question the victim only as to the description of the perpetrators which the victim had given to the affiant officer at the time the officer prepared the affidavit. (Docket No. 18,085-KW)

Following the granting of the defendant's writ application and this court's order of May 8, 1986 allowing the defendant to call the victim as a witness, the record reflects that a hearing on the motion to suppress was scheduled for August 5, 1986. We note that a special jury term was called for the week of June 2, 1986 for the trial of other cases, but at that time the motion to suppress evidence filed in this case had not been completed. On August 1, 1986, the defendant filed a writ of habeas corpus with the trial court alleging that more than 120 days had elapsed since the filing of his motion for speedy trial and no trial in the matter had commenced.

On August 5, 1986 the trial court heard arguments on the defendant's habeas corpus application and received additional testimony on the motion to suppress evidence. At the conclusion of the proceedings, the trial court denied the defendant's request to be released from custody without bail and took the motion to suppress evidence under advisement pending the submission of briefs by counsel for the defendant and the district attorney. At that time, the case was again set for trial for the very next jury term commencing September 29, 1986.

At the hearing on the defendant's application for writ of habeas corpus, the defendant argued that he was unable to post bail and obtain release from custody during the pendency of these proceedings. The defendant contended that even excluding the time period from February 25, 1986 to May 8, 1986 while the case was stayed pending a resolution of his writ application in this court, more than 120 days had elapsed since the filing of his motion for speedy trial, and that under LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 701(D) he was entitled to be released from custody without being required to post bail. The state pointed out that the case had been set for trial during the jury term scheduled for March 3, 1986 but the case was not heard during that term because the defendant had obtained a stay in the proceedings in order to apply for writs on the motion to suppress. It was also apparent that the hearing on the motion to suppress evidence had not yet been completed. Further, although a special jury *588 term had been scheduled for June 2, 1986, the defendant's writ application had just recently been decided in the court of appeal, as noted above.

The trial court found just cause for the delay in scheduling the trial in this matter due to the crowding of the court's docket. The defendant then filed this the present application in this court seeking review of the trial court's ruling. The writ was granted on September 9, 1986. On September 24, 1986 the defendant filed a motion for continuance in the trial court asking that the trial which had been set for September 29, 1986 be continued to a later date because defense counsel had a conflict with another case in another jurisdiction. By agreement, the case was continued, with the stipulation that any delay occurring after September 29, 1986 was waived by the defendant. The case was then docketed for the next jury term on November 17, 1986.

RIGHT TO SPEEDY TRIAL

The right to a speedy trial has a constitutional basis in the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article 1 § 16 of the Louisiana Constitution of 1974. This right also has a statutory basis found in LSA-C.Cr.P. Art. 701. These bases are not equivalent. State v. Pleasant, 489 So.2d 1005 (La.App. 1st Cir. 1986).

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
499 So. 2d 585, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-leonard-lactapp-1986.