State v. Stewart

176 So. 3d 465, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0135, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1712, 2015 WL 5271949
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedSeptember 9, 2015
DocketNo. 2015-KA-0135
StatusPublished
Cited by9 cases

This text of 176 So. 3d 465 (State v. Stewart) 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. Stewart, 176 So. 3d 465, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0135, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1712, 2015 WL 5271949 (La. Ct. App. 2015).

Opinion

DANIEL L. DYSART, Judge.

_JjThis appeal concerns the time limitations for commencing trial against a defendant and whether, under the circumstances of this case, the failure of defendant, Chaka Stewart, to appear due to his incarceration in another state interrupted that time limitation. The trial court found that no such interruption occurred and accordingly, granted Mr. Stewart’s motion to quash, a ruling the State now appeals. For the reasons, that follow, we reverse the trial court’s judgment and' remand this matter for further proceedings.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Defendant, Chaka Stewart was charged by bill of information dated June 29, 2011 with one count of possession of marijuana, second offense, one count of possession with the intent to distribute heroin, and one count of possession with the intent to distribute cocaine. At his July 6, 2011 arraignment, Mr. Stewart pleaded not guilty. He filed motions to suppress the evidence and statements which were de[467]*467nied after a hearing on July 28, 2011. That same day, the trial court conducted a preliminary examination, at the conclusion of which, the trial court found probable | acause as to the first and third counts, but as to the second count, found probable cause only as to simple possession of heroin. Mr. Stewart’s bond was reduced as to count two only and trial was scheduled for September'12,2011.

On August 29, 2011, Mr. Stewart’s counsel appeared in court and orally moved to reduce Mr. Stewart’s bond. At his request, the bond hearing was set for September 12, 2011. Because court was not in session that date, the hearing was rescheduled to September 14, 2011, at which time, both Mr. Stewart and his counsel appeared.

Several appearances were made by defense counsel on Mr. Stewart’s behalf in September with respect to the bond issue. Thereafter, on September 30, 2011, Mr. Stewart appeared in court with his counsel for a status hearing which was reset for November 10, 2011. As the minute entry reflects, Mr. Stewart was notified in court of the date of status hearing. The minute entry further notes: “[s]end notice to defense counsel. Send notice to surety.”

Mr. Stewart again appeared for the status hearing on November 10, 2011, at which time he moved, jointly with the State, for a continuance. The matter was continued to January 19, 2012. Mr. Stewart was again notified of this date at that time and notices were to be sent to defense counsel and the surety.

Mr. Stewart appeared in court again on January 19, 2012, January 24, 2012, February 9, 2012 and March 27, 2012 and on each of these dates, the hearings were continued to later dates. The docket entries for each of these hearings note that Mr. Stewart' was notified of the next hearing date, while notices were to be | ssent to defense counsel and the surety. The next entry, dated April 17, 2012 notes that “[a]s to defendant, Chaka Stewart: hearing on motions moot — re-set to stay with companion case.” The motion hearing was next set for May 17, 2012.

At the May 17, 2012 hearing, it was noted that Mr. Stewart “is in federal custody and was not brought into open court. State to file a writ to secure [Mr. Stewart’s] presence. A motion hearing was scheduled for June 27, 2012. Notices were to be sent to Mr. Stewart’?s counsel and Mr. Stewart was placed on the jail list.”1

At the June 27, 2012 conference, it was again noted that Mr. Stewart was in federal custody and a pre-trial conference was scheduled for July 23, 2012. At that July 23 conference, the State moved for a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequendum2 which was granted by the trial court. The matter was continued to August 13, 2012. Notice was sent to defense counsel and Mr. Stewart was again placed on the jail list. At the August 13, 2012 conference, attended by Mr. Stewart’s counsel, the State indicated its intent to file a writ.

[468]*468The pre-trial conference was continued thereafter on several occasions. The minute entries for some of those dates reflects that the State to file a writ to secure [Mr. Stewart’s] presence. At a July 23, 2013 conference, the State again filed a 14motion for a writ of habeas corpus ad prosequen-dum which was granted. The minute entry for that date directs the Clerk of Court to “process the above writ.” The conference was rescheduled for August 29, 2013. Notice was sent to Mr. Stewart’s counsel and he remained on the jail list. Because Mr. Stewart’s counsel was. not available on August 29, 2013, the matter was continued to January 15, 2014 and then, again, postponed to February 12, 2014. The minute entry reflects that it was “re-set to serve via certified mail and criminal sheriff.” Notices were sent to Mr. Stewart, his counsel and the surety.'

Mr. Stewart did’ not appear for the conference on February 12, 2014 and the trial court issued , an alias capias for his arrest. A bond forfeiture hearing was then set for February 26, 2014. The bond forfeiture hearing was continued on a number of occasions due to a lack of service of process and when it was finally held on April 30, 2014, the surety’s attorney produced a certificate of incarceration, reflecting that Mr. Stewart was in federal custody in Arkansas. The State indicated that it would “demand extradition costs” from the surety-

At the next conference date, July 2, 2014, counsel for Mr. Stewart advised that a motion to quash would be filed and it was thereafter filed on July 25, 2014. The motion sought to quash the bill of information based on the State’s failure to timely institute Mr. Stewart’s prosecution. The State opposed the motion and, following a hearing on September 26, 2014, the motion was granted.

This appeal timely followed.

[¿DISCUSSION3

As its sole assignment of error, the State contends that the trial court erred in granting Mr. Stewart’s motion to quash. Its argument is two-fold. First, the State contends that the trial court was without authority to conduct the hearing on the motion to quash without Mr. Stewart’s presence. Second, the State concedes that a non-capital felony prosecution must be commenced within two years of the date of the institution of prosecution;4 however, in this matter, it ’ argues that the' time period was interrupted as per the provisions of La. C.Cr.P. art. 579 A(3).

After a review of the record and our pertinent jurisprudence, we agree with the State’s position. As discussed more fully herein, we find that the time period was, indeed, interrupted and we reverse the trial court on that basis. Because of this finding, we need not reach the issue of whether the hearing on the motion to quash was erroneously conducted in Mr. Stewart’s absence.

At the outset, we note that, when confronted with motions to quash involving mixed issues of fact and law, as in the instant matter which concerns the application of La. C.Cr.Pr. art. 578 to the particular facts of this case, we apply an abuse of discretion standard of review. State v. Dixon, 13-0396, p. 6 (La.App. 4 Cir. 7/2/14), 146 So.3d 662, 666 (“[i]n reviewing rulings on motions to. quash where there are mixed questions of fact as well as law, a trial judge’s ruling on a motion to quash is discretionary and should not be dis[469]*469turbed absent a clear abuse of discretion.”).

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
176 So. 3d 465, 2015 La.App. 4 Cir. 0135, 2015 La. App. LEXIS 1712, 2015 WL 5271949, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-stewart-lactapp-2015.