United States v. LaTender

464 F. Supp. 607, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14948
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Wisconsin
DecidedJanuary 22, 1979
Docket78-Cr-166
StatusPublished
Cited by5 cases

This text of 464 F. Supp. 607 (United States v. LaTender) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Wisconsin primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. LaTender, 464 F. Supp. 607, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14948 (E.D. Wis. 1979).

Opinion

DECISION and ORDER

MYRON L. GORDON, District Judge.

This action is before me on the defendant’s motion to dismiss and his motion for release of a presentence report prepared by the probation department in a related case.

The motion to dismiss asserts that the instant prosecution is improper because: (1) the defendant has been denied his right to a speedy trial; (2) the charge is an abuse of prosecutorial discretion; (3) dismissal would be in the interest of justice; and (4) there has been “unnecessary delay” in the prosecution of the case under Rule 48(b), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure.

On March 14, 1977, Paul Cletus LaTender, the defendant, was arrested with Robert Hawpetoss and Joseph Hawpetoss for an alleged theft of personal property in excess of $100 which occurred that same day. An indictment was returned on March 17, 1977, charging the three, as Menominee Indians, with a violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1153, 661 and 2. An arraignment was held on March 25, 1977, at which the defendants entered pleas of not guilty, and they were released on bail. A pretrial conference was held on May 13, 1977, at which time a jury trial was scheduled for August 15, 1977.

On August 10,1977, Mr. LaTender filed a notice of alibi with the names of his alibi witnesses in response to the government’s demand made pursuant to Rule 12.1(a), Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. On August 12, 1977, the government requested leave to file a dismissal of the indictment against Mr. LaTender, without offering any reasons for the request, and the request was granted that same day, whereupon the prosecution against Mr. LaTender terminated.

On August 15, 1977, the two remaining defendants, Robert and Joseph Hawpetoss, failed to appear and bench warrants were issued for their arrest. Upon return of the bench warrants, the trial was rescheduled for November 7, 1977. After 6 days of trial, the defendants Joseph and Robert Hawpetoss were convicted of the charge in the indictment. Their convictions were affirmed by the court of appeals on August 18, 1978.

Mr. LaTender was reindicted on November 28, 1978, on the same charge. The circumstances underlying the reindictment were disclosed by the prosecutor during oral argument on the motion to dismiss and in an affidavit. The prosecutor explains that the original indictment against Mr. LaTender was dismissed because the prosecutor believed the evidence was insufficient to obtain a conviction of Mr. LaTender. In December, 1977, between the dates of the trial and the sentencing proceeding, Robert Hawpetoss agreed to give a statement to law enforcement authorities about an unrelated crime. In return, the government agreed to inform the court at the time of sentencing of Robert Hawpetoss’ cooperation. During the course of his interview with the authorities, Robert Hawpetoss related facts inculpating Mr. LaTender in the March 14, 1977, theft. The government asserts that this tender of information came without solicitation by the authorities, and this statement of Robert Hawpetoss is the sole additional evidence upon which the prosecutor justifies the new indictment.

*609 Robert Hawpetoss filed an appeal of his conviction after sentencing, and the government refrained from seeking a new indictment against Mr. LaTender until the appeal was resolved. Thereafter, the prosecutor obtained authorization from the attorney general to request a grant of immunity for Robert Hawpetoss so as to require him to give testimony before the grand jury regarding the theft. The new indictment was filed a month later.

The defendant first contends that in view of the time lapse since March, 1977, he has been denied his right to a speedy trial under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161 et seq. I disagree. The Act provides that where a defendant is reindicted for the same offense, the time limits set forth in the Act run from the date of the subsequent indictment. 18 U.S.C. § 3161(d). Since compliance with the Speedy Trial Act is measured from the time of the second indictment, the defendant’s argument fails.

A closer question is presented by the defendant’s claim that he has been deprived of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. The protection of a speedy trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment, and, to a limited extent, by the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. United States v. Lovasco, 431 U.S. 783, 97 S.Ct. 2044, 52 L.Ed.2d 752 (1977). Lovasco and United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971), hold that the Sixth Amendment is concerned with delay occurring between the time a defendant is indicted and the time of trial and that Fourteenth Amendment due process provides protection from oppressive delay occurring between the time an offense is committed and the time an indictment is returned.

The delay for Sixth Amendment purposes must be viewed from the time Mr. LaTender was reindicted, since it is the second indictment which he challenges. From this perspective, the delay since indictment — less than 2 months — has not been long enough to be “presumptively prejudicial” and to trigger the Sixth Amendment. Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). However, there was a substantial delay (20 months) between the two indictments, which must be examined from the standpoint of Fourteenth Amendment due process.

In United States v. Lovasco, the Court faced the issue whether an indictment must be dismissed because of an 18 month delay between the commission of the offense and the initiation of the prosecution where the purpose of the delay was to investigate whether other persons participated in the crime. The Court held that “the Due Process Clause has a limited role to play in protecting against oppressive delay” apart from the primary role played by statutes of limitations. In defining this limited role, the Court rejected Mr. Lovasco’s contention that proof of prejudice alone demonstrates a violation of due process and stated that the reasons for the delay must also be considered. 431 U.S. at 790, 97 S.Ct. 2044. The Court applied the traditional standards to the question of when a delayed prosecution violates due process:

“We are to determine only whether the action complained of . violates those ‘fundamental conceptions of justice which lie at the báse of our civil and political institutions’ . . . and which define ‘the community’s sense of fair play and decency . . . Id. (citations omitted).

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Bluebook (online)
464 F. Supp. 607, 1979 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 14948, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-latender-wied-1979.