Summers v. State

914 So. 2d 245, 2005 WL 1744993
CourtCourt of Appeals of Mississippi
DecidedJuly 26, 2005
Docket2004-KP-00360-COA
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 914 So. 2d 245 (Summers v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Summers v. State, 914 So. 2d 245, 2005 WL 1744993 (Mich. Ct. App. 2005).

Opinion

914 So.2d 245 (2005)

Terri Lynn SUMMERS, Appellant
v.
STATE of Mississippi, Appellee.

No. 2004-KP-00360-COA.

Court of Appeals of Mississippi.

July 26, 2005.
Rehearing Denied November 8, 2005.

*247 Terri Lynn Summers, Appellant, pro se.

Office of the Attorney General by Billy L. Gore, attorney for appellee.

Before KING, C.J., MYERS and ISHEE, JJ.

MYERS, J., for the Court.

¶ 1. On March 4, 2002, Terri Summers was indicted in Harrison County, Mississippi for embezzlement of an amount greater than two hundred fifty dollars, in violation of Mississippi Code Annotated § 97-23-19 (Rev.2000), and was arraigned *248 on June 10, 2002. Summers was subsequently tried on December 1, 2003, and was found guilty. As a result, Summers was sentenced to ten years in the custody of the Mississippi Department of Corrections, with ten years suspended and probation for a period of five years. Further Summers was ordered to pay court costs, a fine in the amount of $1,000, and restitution in the amount of $12,500.

¶ 2. Prior to her trial, on July 30, 2003, Summers filed a "motion to dismiss charges for not granting a trial within 270 days of arraignment," which was denied. Aggrieved by the trial court's denial of her motion, Summers appeals, raising the following issue:

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO DISMISS THE CHARGES AGAINST SUMMERS, IN VIOLATION OF MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED § 99-17-1 AND HER SIXTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO A SPEEDY TRIAL.

¶ 3. Finding no error, we affirm.

LEGAL ANALYSIS

I. DID THE TRIAL COURT ERR IN FAILING TO DISMISS THE CHARGES AGAINST SUMMERS, IN VIOLATION OF MISSISSIPPI CODE ANNOTATED § 99-17-1 AND HER SIXTH AND FOURTEENTH AMENDMENT RIGHTS TO A SPEEDY TRIAL.

STANDARD OF REVIEW

Review of a speedy trial claim encompasses the fact question of whether the trial delay rose from good cause. Under this Court's standard of review, this Court will uphold a decision based on substantial, credible evidence. Folk v. State, 576 So.2d 1243, 1247 (Miss. 1991). If no probative evidence supports the trial court's finding of good cause, this Court will ordinarily reverse. Folk v. State, 576 So.2d at 1247. The state bears the burden of proving good cause for a speedy trial delay and thus bears the risk of non-persuasion. Flores v. State, 574 So.2d 1314, 1318 (Miss. 1990).

DeLoach v. State, 722 So.2d 512, 516(¶ 12) (Miss.1998).

DISCUSSION

¶ 4. "A defendant in a criminal case has a right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution and by Article 3, Section 26 of the Mississippi Constitution." Wesley v. State, 872 So.2d 763, 766(¶ 6) (Miss.Ct.App.2004) (citing Sharp v. State, 786 So.2d 372, 377(¶ 4) (Miss. 2001)). Summers argues that due to multiple continuances, she was denied her Sixth and Fourteenth Amendment rights to a speedy trial and due process, as well as her statutory right to a speedy trial.

¶ 5. It is clear from the record that Summers was indicted on March 4, 2002, and tried on December 1 through 2, 2003, more than 600 days after her indictment and over 500 days after the date of her arraignment. In order to fully understand Summers's argument, the procedural history of the case is necessary.

¶ 6. As stated previously, Summers was indicted on March 4, 2002. On May 24, 2002, upon motion of Summers and her attorney, William Martin, a continuance was granted and arraignment was set for June 17, 2002. On June 10, 2002, Summers was arraigned, entered a plea of "not guilty," and trial was set for September 16, 2002. At some point between her arraignment and trial, Summers obtained new counsel, and was represented by Derrick Cusick and Stephen Cozart. On September *249 9, 2002, again on the motion of Summers, Cusick, and Cozart, a continuance was granted due to "discovery not completed by [the] defense." Specifically stated and circled on Summers's motion for continuance are the words "[d]efendant waives all speedy trial rights or objections." This motion and order was signed by both the prosecutor and Cusick. Trial was then set for January 21, 2003.

¶ 7. On January 13, 2003, a hearing was held on Cusick and Cozart's motion to withdraw as counsel. The reason underlying Cusick and Cozart's request was that they had been sued by Kathleen Smiley, Summers's former boss from whose office these claims originate, resulting in a conflict of interest between the attorneys and Summers. Due to this conflict, the trial judge allowed the attorneys to withdraw and appointed Felicia Burkes as Summers's new counsel. Burkes and the State both thought that the trial was scheduled to be held during the week of August 4, 2003, but realized in March that the trial date had failed to be set. As a result, the parties continued discovery and attempted to agree on the details of a North Carolina plea agreement.

¶ 8. On August 18, 2003, Burkes filed a "motion to dismiss charges for not granting a trial within 270 days of arraignment" which was denied. At this motion hearing, the trial court entered an order setting the trial for December 1, 2003, so as to allow Summers to subpoena the income tax records of Smiley, to aid in the preparation of her defense. The court, in ruling on Summers's motion to dismiss found as follows:

I find as a matter of fact that plea negotiations, as well as discovery, has been ongoing and that the substitution of counsel in fact negates any prejudice to the defendant such that would require dismissal on the grounds of a failure to grant [a] speedy trail. So I'm denying the motion to dismiss for those reasons.

¶ 9. During the hearing on Summers's motion to dismiss, Burkes acknowledged that there were several continuances in the case, but attributed each of these continuances to the victim, Smiley. During the hearing on her motion, Summers argued that due to Smiley filing a civil suit against Summers's former counsel, she was forced to obtain alternate representation, thereby delaying her trial and causing her prejudice. Further, Summers argued that due to a mistake by the court administrator, the case was again delayed, as it appeared "[t]hat it simply fell off the docket...." These same issues are raised on appeal. As Summers raises this issue under the context of both her statutory right and constitutional right, we will address both of her claims individually.

a. Statutory Speedy Trial Right

¶ 10. Mississippi Code Annotated § 99-17-1 (Rev.2000) states that "[u]nless good cause be shown, and a continuance duly granted by the court, all offenses for which indictments are presented to the court shall be tried no later than two hundred seventy (270) days after the accused has been arraigned." The first step in determining whether one's statutory right to a speedy trial has been violated, is to calculate the number of days between the arraignment and the trial. In performing this calculation, "[t]he date of arraignment is not counted but the date of trial is and weekends are counted unless the 270th day is a Sunday." Johnson v. State, 756 So.2d 4, 11(¶ 21) (Miss.Ct.App.1999). It is evident from the record that Summers was arraigned on June 10, 2002, and eventually tried on December 1-2, 2003, which is 538 days from the date of her arraignment. In support of her contention that her statutory right to a speedy trial has been violated, *250

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Bluebook (online)
914 So. 2d 245, 2005 WL 1744993, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/summers-v-state-missctapp-2005.