State v. Sanchez

747 P.2d 1243, 155 Ariz. 544, 1987 Ariz. App. LEXIS 648
CourtCourt of Appeals of Arizona
DecidedDecember 31, 1987
DocketNo. 1 CA-CR 11038
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 747 P.2d 1243 (State v. Sanchez) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Arizona primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Sanchez, 747 P.2d 1243, 155 Ariz. 544, 1987 Ariz. App. LEXIS 648 (Ark. Ct. App. 1987).

Opinion

OPINION

HAIRE, Chief Judge.

On June 4, 1986, an indictment was returned against appellee David Gonzales [545]*545Sanchez (defendant). On December 29, 1986, the trial court determined that the time limits imposed by Rule 8, Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, had been violated and dismissed the charges without prejudice.1 The state has appealed, urging several grounds on which the dismissal was erroneous. The issue we address is whether, when delay occasioned by the defendant occurs on the eve of the expiration of the Rule 8 limits, the amount of time to be excluded in computing those limits includes a reasonable time for subsequent trial preparation.

TIMELINESS OF OPENING BRIEF

As a preliminary matter, defendant urges that we strike the state’s opening brief as untimely and that we dismiss the appeal. The brief was originally due by April 9, 1987. On May 8, 1987, in a routine file review this court noted that the state had filed neither an opening brief nor a request for an extension of time in which to file the brief. Sua sponte, we extended the time for filing until May 27, 1987, and the brief was filed on May 26, 1987.2

Defendant neither called the matter to this court’s attention initially, by filing a motion to dismiss the appeal, nor questioned the propriety of the court’s order granting an extension, by filing a motion for reconsideration. Under the circumstances, defendant has waived his right to object on the grounds that the opening brief was not timely filed.

SPEEDY TRIAL

Rule 8.2(b), Arizona Rules of Criminal Procedure, provides that a defendant who is held in custody must be brought to trial within 120 days from his initial appearance or 90 days from his arraignment, whichever is the lesser. Defendant, who was in custody, made his initial appearance on June 9, 1986. He was first arraigned on June 16, 1986; after a remand to the grand jury for a new probable cause determination, he was arraigned again on September 19, 1986.

The state first argues that the trial court abused its discretion by dismissing the charges against defendant when the speedy trial limits had not yet expired. This argument is based on the contention that the speedy trial limits began anew with the second indictment. The state relies on State ex rel. Berger v. Superior Court, 111 Ariz. 524, 534 P.2d 266 (1975), and State v. Soto, 117 Ariz. 345, 572 P.2d 1183 (1977), as support for this contention. See also Rule 8.4(b) and State v. Sutton, 27 Ariz.App. 231, 553 P.2d 1216 (1976) (the time between the filing of a motion for new determination of probable cause and the date of the arraignment on the new information or indictment is excludable when computing time limits under Rule 8.2).

The state observes that if September 19, 1986, had been used as a starting date, the Rule 8 limits would not have expired when the trial court dismissed the charges. Defendant responds that the state has waived its right to object on this ground, and we agree.

Although the state had several opportunities to raise this argument in the trial court, it failed to do so. For example, after defendant’s second arraignment, the trial court identified October 7, 1986, as the last day for trial. (Apparently, after the new arraignment, the trial court began using June 9, the date of defendant’s initial appearance, as the starting point for its calculations. October 7 is 120 days after June 9.)

It should have been apparent to the state that the court would have arrived at a much later date if it had either used the date of the second arraignment as a start[546]*546ing point or excluded any time for the remand. Neither party called this omission to the trial court’s attention.3

Furthermore, on October 2, 1986, the trial court postponed the trial for 28 days at defendant’s request, identified November 4, 1986, as the new last day for trial, and directed counsel to recompute the last day and inform the court of any error therein. The state remained silent then as well as later, when the trial court granted defendant a further 14-day postponement and identified November 18 as the new last day.

Meanwhile, defendant sought a second remand for redetermination of probable cause, which was denied. He then pursued a special action, this court’s number 1 CA-SA 055, during which proceedings in the trial court were stayed for a period of 28 days. On December 12, 1986, we declined to accept jurisdiction of the special action and lifted the stay; the trial court received our order on December 15, 1986. Because the trial judge’s secretary was ill, however, the order was not brought to the judge’s attention immediately, and the matter was not set for trial within the one day that remained by the trial court’s calculations.

On December 29, 1986, the state argued vigorously against dismissal, but failed again to identify any perceived error of law or computation pertaining to the remand, objecting solely on the basis óf the argument that we address below. Nor was any such argument advanced when the state petitioned this court, in case number 1 CA-SA 096, for special action relief from the order of dismissal.

A party may waive the right to raise a violation of the speedy trial rule. State v. Gaitan, 27 Ariz.App. 718, 558 P.2d 746 (1976). In Gaitan, the defendant moved to dismiss almost two months after the date on which he contended the speedy trial time had expired, having twice in the interim acceded to the trial court’s allegedly erroneous determination of the last date for trial. This court held that the motion to dismiss was untimely and refused to address the merits of the defendant’s argument on appeal.

We cannot justify a different result when the complaining party is the state. In addressing the state’s remaining argument, we will therefore assume that when defendant filed his petition for special action, the date scheduled for trial was one day before the last day under Rule 8.

The state next argues that the trial court abused its discretion in dismissing the charges without excluding a reasonable time after the stay was lifted in order to allow the case to be rescheduled for trial. We believe that the trial court’s error lay in its failure to appreciate the extent of its discretion under the rule; on that basis, we reverse.

Rule 8.4(a) provides that among the periods to be excluded from the computation of the speedy trial limits are:

“[djelays occasioned by or on behalf of the defendant, including, but not limited to, delays caused by an examination and hearing to determine competency, the defendant’s absence or incompetence, or his inability to be arrested or taken into custody in Arizona.”

This rule has been interpreted to include delays resulting from a defendant’s pursuit of special action relief. State v. Smith, 146 Ariz. 325, 705 P.2d 1376 (App.1985).

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Bluebook (online)
747 P.2d 1243, 155 Ariz. 544, 1987 Ariz. App. LEXIS 648, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-sanchez-arizctapp-1987.