Sweaney v. DIST. COURT. EIGHTEENTH JUD. DIST.

713 P.2d 914
Supreme Court of Colorado·Decided January 31, 1986·No. 85SA126·Published·Cited by 1 cases

Opinion

713 P.2d 914 (1986)

Layne SWEANEY, Petitioner,
v.
DISTRICT COURT In and For the EIGHTEENTH JUDICIAL DISTRICT and John P. Gately, one of the Judges Thereof, Respondents.

No. 85SA126.

Supreme Court of Colorado, En Banc.

January 31, 1986.
Rehearing Denied February 24, 1986.

David F. Vela, Colorado State Public Defender, Douglas L. Bry, Deputy State Public Defender, Littleton, for petitioner.

Robert R. Gallagher, Jr., Dist. Atty., James J. Peters, Chief Deputy Dist. Atty., Littleton, for respondents.

*915 LOHR, Justice.

In this original proceeding under C.A.R. 21, we issued a rule to show cause directing the respondent district court to demonstrate why it did not err in rejecting petitioner Layne Sweaney's motion to dismiss criminal charges against him because of a failure of compliance with the requirements of article III(c) of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), § 24-60-501, art. III(c), 10 C.R.S. (1982). We make the rule absolute and remand for further proceedings.

I.

Sweaney asserts a violation of his right under article III(c) of the IAD to be informed promptly of a detainer lodged against him in California by Arapahoe County authorities while Sweaney was serving a sentence in California. As a result of this violation, he contends, the criminal charges underlying the Arapahoe County detainer must be dismissed. The following facts appear from the record and provide the basis for determining the merits of Sweaney's arguments.

On October 10, 1979, Sweaney was convicted in Orange County, California, Superior Court of two counts of child molestation and one count of forcible oral copulation. Sweaney failed to appear for sentencing, and the California court issued a warrant for his arrest.

On June 15, 1980, police in Aurora, Colorado, arrested Sweaney, at the time going by the name of David Riley Watkins, for sexual assault on a child. The People filed a "Felony Complaint/Information" on June 20, 1980, in Arapahoe County District Court, charging Sweaney with two counts of sexual assault on a child and one count of first degree kidnapping. Sweaney was released on bond. He failed to make a required court appearance and violated certain other conditions of the bond, and on July 17, 1980, the district court revoked his bond and issued a warrant for his arrest.

Soon thereafter, Sweaney was arrested in Michigan pursuant to the California warrant and was returned to California for sentencing. Officials from the F.B.I. and then from the Orange County, California, Sheriff's Department notified the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department that Sweaney was in custody. On October 1, 1980, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department mailed certified copies of the Colorado complaint and the warrant for Sweaney's arrest to the Orange County Sheriff's Department and requested that a detainer be placed against Sweaney. On December 19, 1980, the California court sentenced Sweaney to imprisonment for seven years and eight months in the California penal system. Shortly thereafter, the Orange County Sheriff's Department returned the detainer documents to the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department, informing the Colorado authorities that they would have to contact the California Institution for Men at Chino, California, directly if the Colorado authorities desired to have that institution file a detainer against Sweaney.

On January 13, 1981, and again on April 3, 1982, the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Department mailed copies of the Colorado complaint against Sweaney and the warrant for his arrest to the California institution and requested that a detainer be placed against Sweaney. Only after a third request was made on June 14, 1982, did the California authorities file a detainer against Sweaney and acknowledge by letter to Arapahoe County, dated June 28, 1982, that the detainer had been placed.

We have described a detainer as "`a notification filed with the institution in which a prisoner is serving a sentence, advising that he is wanted to face pending criminal charges in another jurisdiction.'" People v. Moody, 676 P.2d 691, 693 n. 2 (Colo.1984), quoting United States v. Mauro, 436 U.S. 340, 359, 98 S.Ct. 1834, 1846, 56 L.Ed.2d 329 (1978). In People v. Yellen, 704 P.2d 306, 311 (Colo.1985), after quoting the foregoing description, we noted that the Council of State Governments defined a detainer as "`a warrant filed against a person already in custody with the purpose of insuring that he will be available to the authority which has placed the detainer.' *916 Suggested State Legislation for 1959, p. 167." See People v. Bolin, 712 P.2d 1002, 1002 n.2 (Colo.1986).

Article III(c) of the IAD provides:

The warden, commissioner of corrections, or other official having custody of the prisoner shall promptly inform him of the source and contents of any detainer lodged against him and shall also inform him of his right to make a request for final disposition of the indictment, information, or complaint on which the detainer is based.

Under article III(a) of the IAD, a prisoner may request final disposition of any untried charge pending against him on the basis of which a detainer has been lodged. Within 180 days after the court and the prosecuting official receive such a request, the prisoner must be brought to trial or the charges against him shall be dismissed with prejudice. § 24-60-501, arts. III(a), V(c), 10 C.R.S. (1982). Article III(a) further provides that the 180 day period can be extended "for good cause shown in open court, the prisoner or his counsel being present." Finally, article III(e) provides that any request by a prisoner pursuant to article III(a) for final disposition of charges underlying the detainer shall be deemed a waiver of extradition to the state filing the detainer. § 24-60-501, art. III(e), 10 C.R.S. (1982).

Sweaney testified that he was told informally of the existence of the Colorado warrant in 1982, but that he was not officially informed of the lodging of the Colorado detainer and of his rights under the IAD until October 5, 1984. Documentary evidence supported Sweaney's testimony, and the district court found that "[t]he People have not established that the California penal authorities gave notice to the Defendant of Untried Indictment, Information or Complaint and of Right to Request Disposition prior to October 5, 1984." This was more than two years after Colorado filed the detainer request and California notified Colorado that the request had been received and a detainer lodged against Sweaney.

Upon being advised of the existence of the detainer and of his rights under the IAD, Sweaney promptly filed a request for final disposition of the Colorado charges underlying the detainer. Sweaney was returned to Colorado and appeared in Arapahoe County District Court on January 10, 1985. Shortly thereafter, Sweaney filed a number of motions to dismiss the charges against him, including a motion to dismiss for violation of the IAD.

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Sweaney v. DIST. COURT. EIGHTEENTH JUD. DIST., 713 P.2d 914 (Colo. 1986).

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