State v. Mattoon

354 P.2d 908, 56 Wash. 2d 688, 1960 Wash. LEXIS 400
CourtWashington Supreme Court
DecidedSeptember 1, 1960
DocketNo. 35369
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 354 P.2d 908 (State v. Mattoon) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Washington Supreme Court primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Mattoon, 354 P.2d 908, 56 Wash. 2d 688, 1960 Wash. LEXIS 400 (Wash. 1960).

Opinion

Donworth, J.

— July 9, 1959, appellant was charged by information with the crime of grand larceny, allegedly committed by breaking into a parked automobile and taking property of another having a value in excess of seventy-five dollars.

Appellant, being an indigent person, had defense counsel appointed for him by the trial court on August 3, 1959. A list of the state’s witnesses was served on appellant’s counsel on August 6, 1959, and filed on August 12, 1959. On August 7, 1959, the case was set for trial for September 10,1959.

August 12, 1959, the state filed a motion, supported by affidavit, for a court certificate requesting that a certain out-of-state witness be summoned from Oregon, pursuant to RCW 10.55.060 (known as the Uniform Act to Secure the Attendance of Witnesses from Without a State in Criminal Proceedings), and, also, a motion and affidavit were filed for an order directing the auditor to issue a warrant to cover necessary travel expenses and the witness’ fee, as provided by RCW 10.55.060. On the same day, the trial court granted both of the motions.

September 10, 1959, the case came on for trial. The state informed the trial court that its out-of-state witness was not available, and the state requested that the trial be continued. The trial court, after hearing arguments for both sides, postponed the date of trial to September 21, 1959.

September 15, 1959, appellant filed a motion for an order to show cause requiring the sheriff and the prosecutor to show cause why the action should not be dismissed because of the state’s failure to bring him to trial within sixty days after the filing of the information, as required by RCW 10.46.010. On the following day, appellant also filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus based upon the same grounds.

September 16, 1959, the trial court, after examining the affidavits of the parties and hearing their respective argu[690]*690merits, entered an order denying the motion to dismiss and further denying the petition for a writ of habeas corpus.

The case came on for trial on September 21, 1959, before the court sitting with a jury. On September 22, 1959, the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Appellant then moved for judgment notwithstanding the verdict or, in the alternative, for a new trial. The motion was heard and denied. Thereafter, the trial court entered judgment and sentence upon the verdict. This appeal followed.

Upon appellant’s motion, the trial court ordered that he be furnished a free transcript of the proceedings therein for the purpose of appealing to this court.

The assignments of error are: (1) The trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for dismissal of the action; and (2) the trial court erred in denying appellant’s motion for judgment notwithstanding the verdict, or, in the alternative, for a new trial.

With respect to assignment of error No. 1, appellant relies upon RCW 10.46.010, which provides as follows:

“If a defendant indicted or informed against for an offense, whose trial has not been postponed upon his own application, be not brought to trial within sixty days after the indictment is found or the information filed, the court shall order it to be dismissed, unless good cause to the contrary is shown.” (Italics ours.)

Appellant does not contend that there was an unnecessary delay in setting his case for trial on September 10, 1959 (which was 63 days after July 9, 1959, the date the information charging him with grand larceny was filed). His argument here is that the trial court abused its discretion in continuing the case until September 21, 1959, at the request of the state.

Thus, the sole question before us is whether or not “good cause” was shown for postponing appellant’s trial to September 21, 1959.

The record shows that, during the first part of September, the deputy prosecutor inquired of the trial court whether or not a court would be available to hear appel[691]*691lant’s case on September 10, 1959. The purpose of this inquiry was that the state did not want to be in the position of having Mr. Harold Auld, the out-of-state witness, travel all the way to Spokane only to be advised that the case would have to be postponed because no court was available to hear the case.

The trial court advised the deputy prosecutor that Mr. Gilpin, bailiff of the presiding court, was in a better position to know the condition of the court docket than the trial court was.

After receiving this information, the deputy prosecutor, on September 8th, inquired of Mr. Gilpin as to whether or not a court would be available on September 10, 1959, to hear appellant’s case. Mr. Gilpin stated that he did not feel that the cases presently being tried in the Spokane county superior courts would be finished by that time. He further advised that no cases would be tried during the week of September 14 through September 18, 1959, and that the first possible date the case could be assigned out for trial was September 21, 1959.

Thereafter, the state notified Mr. Auld that he should appear in Spokane on September 21st, instead of September 10th.

As matters subsequently developed, a court was in fact available on September 10th to hear appellant’s case. However, after the state advised the trial court of its conversation with Mr. Gilpin and of its notification .to Mr. Auld that his presence in Spokane would not be necessary until September 21st, the trial court postponed the date of trial to September 21, 1959.

We are clearly of the view that no abuse of discretion is shown here and that the state presented “good cause” for having the trial postponed. In denying appellant’s motion to dismiss and his petition for a writ of habeas corpus, the trial court stated:

“Here, it seems to me the question is whether or not defendant’s Constitutional rights to a speedy trial have been violated, and it is my conclusion or finding that they haven’t. The statute referred to does say that the case [692]*692sháll be dismissed if it is not brought- to trial within sixty days, unless good cause to the contrary is shown,- and the Court finds that there is good cause to the contrary, because first of all, the Prosecutor has done everything within his power to have the case set at the earliest possible time, and in this case there is no contention that the case originally was not set soon enough.

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Related

City of Seattle v. Guay
150 Wash. 2d 288 (Washington Supreme Court, 2003)
State v. Murray
516 P.2d 517 (Court of Appeals of Washington, 1973)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
354 P.2d 908, 56 Wash. 2d 688, 1960 Wash. LEXIS 400, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-mattoon-wash-1960.