State v. Worden

496 N.E.2d 245, 25 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 25 Ohio B. 237, 1985 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 107
CourtMorgan County Court of Common Pleas
DecidedOctober 15, 1985
DocketNo. CR-83-24
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 496 N.E.2d 245 (State v. Worden) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Morgan County Court of Common Pleas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
State v. Worden, 496 N.E.2d 245, 25 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 25 Ohio B. 237, 1985 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 107 (Ohio Super. Ct. 1985).

Opinion

Safranek, J.

This case is before the court on defendant’s motion to dismiss the indictment, which motion contends that the defendant, Robert Scott Wor-den, has been denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

This case is a sequel to an earlier case, No. CR-83-18. In that earlier case, the defendant appeared before the court on June 8, 1983 and (1) acknowledged receipt of a bill of information, (2) waived his right to counsel, (3) waived his right to require presentation of his case to a grand jury, (4) waived his right to a jury trial, and (5) entered a plea of guilty to two counts, each charging the second degree felony of burglary, and one count charging petty theft. The court accepted his guilty pleas, ordered a presentence investigation and released the defendant on his own recognizance.

The defendant was again before the court in case No. CR-83-18 on June 17, 1983 at which time he received sentences of two to fifteen years on each of the two burglary offenses and six months on the petty theft charge, all sentences running concurrently. He was delivered to the Mansfield Reformatory on June 23, 1983. The entry reflecting the proceedings upon sentencing indicates that the investigation initiated as a pre-sentence investigation was to continue as a post-sentence investigation, and that it had not, at the time of sentencing, been completed.

This case, No. CR-83-24, was initiated by an indictment filed on July 20, 1983. The- indictment alleges (1) one count of aggravated arson, this apparently with respect to one of the same residences that the defendant pled guilty to burglarizing and on the same date, (2) one count of escape from the Morgan County Jail on June 12, 1983, which interestingly soon followed the date Judge Robert M. Daniel had ordered that the defendant be released on his own recognizance, June 8, 1983, but preceded defendant’s appearance in court for sentencing in case No. CR-83-18, and (3) two counts of breaking and entering and one count of auto theft, all of which were apparently part of a course of conduct closely following upon the escape.

The file indicates service of the indictment on the Superintendent of the Mansfield Reformatory sometime between July 29,1983 and August 1,1983. The defendant testified that he received a copy of the indictment, and the court finds that he did.

The prosecuting attorney testified that he sought no order from the court directing the sheriff to obtain the defendant from the reformatory and return [17]*17him to Morgan County for arraignment in this case, until he sought the order filed herein on April 4, 1985 which directed the sheriff to have the defendant before the court for arraignment on April 11, 1985. The court finds that no such prior effort was made.

The defendant was arraigned on April 11, 1985, at which time counsel was appointed for him. The defendant’s motion to dismiss was filed within the requirements of Crim. R. 11(C) on May 15, 1985.

The landmark case setting forth a method of analysis for determining in individual cases whether there has been a deprivation of the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial imposed by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment on the states is, of course, Barker v. Wingo (1972), 407 U.S. 514.

The Ohio cases generally refer to the Barker approach approvingly without being specific as to whether the approach is required by the Ohio Constitution as well as the Amendments to the United States Constitution. In State v. Turner (1982), 4 Ohio App. 3d 305, however, mention of the Ohio Constitution is so intermingled with a Barker analysis that the case must be taken to stand for the proposition that the speedy trial requirements of the Ohio Constitution, while not necessarily co-existent with those of the United States Constitution, are consistent with the philosophy of Barker. This court concludes that such is the law.

The Supreme Court, in Barker, identified four factors to be considered and balanced. Each factor is to be weighed and balanced both with the other three and with other factors. The Supreme Court stated expressly at 533 that none of the four factors identified was “either a necessary or sufficient condition to a finding of a deprivation of the right to a speedy trial.” Specifically, at least with regard to the federal right, it is clear that an affirmative demonstration of prejudice to the defense at trial is not necessary to prove a denial of the constitutional right to a speedy trial. Moore v. Arizona (1973), 414 U.S. 25.

Length of Delay

The delay here was approximately twenty-one months from the date of indictment to the date of the arraignment and approximately twenty months from service of the indictment to arraignment. The delay that may be tolerated depends upon the complexity of the case and is shorter for street crimes, such as defendant is charged with here, than for, say, conspiracy cases. Barker, supra, at 530-531.

At the hearing on defendant’s motion to dismiss, the prosecutor inquired of deputy Vickers, who testified that the defendant, before he was transported to the reformatory to serve the sentences imposed in the earlier case, case No. CR-83-18, made statements implicating himself in at least several of the offenses giving rise to the present indictment. These statements are mentioned in and attached to the discovery in the file. The discovery lists only eight prosecution witnesses. Considering that the pro-secutorial task would appear to be straightforward and not logistically formidable, the length of the delay has been inordinate.

The consideration of this factor tips the balance heavily toward a determination that the defendant’s speedy trial rights afforded by the Ohio Constitution and by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution have been denied.

Reasons for the Delay

Upon inquiry by the court as to the reasons for the delay, the prosecuting attorney testified that it was his understanding that speedy trial considerations did not attach when a defendant was incarcerated.

The prosecutor also mentioned a [18]*18focus on a Mr. Hockett, who escaped with the defendant. No reason was given as to why such a focus should delay the defendant’s case. He would not appear to be a necessary witness against the defendant, and he is not listed as a witness in the state’s discovery.

The prosecutor testified that no attempt was made to obtain from Judge Robert M. Daniel, the former judge of this court, an order like that which was granted forthwith, upon the prosecutor’s request on April 4, 1985, directing that the sheriff proceed to the Mansfield Reformatory and return the defendant for arraignment on April 11, 1985. No reason was given as to why no such attempt was made.

No improper motive such as a desire to hamper the defense appears as a reason for the delay, but no valid reason appears either.

The consideration of the prosecuting attorney’s misunderstanding as to the law as a reason for the delay tips the balance, not heavily, but still significantly, toward a determination that the defendant’s speedy trial rights have been denied.

Defendant’s Assertion of His Right

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
496 N.E.2d 245, 25 Ohio Misc. 2d 15, 25 Ohio B. 237, 1985 Ohio Misc. LEXIS 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/state-v-worden-ohctcomplmorgan-1985.