United States v. Ramirez Jr

• Court: Court of Appeals for the First Circuit
• Decided: August 21, 1992
• Docket: 92-1109
• Status: Published

Opinion

USCA1 Opinion

August 21, 1992     UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS
                                FOR THE FIRST CIRCUIT
                                 ____________________

No. 92-1109

                              UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

                                      Appellant,

                                          v.

                            DOMINGO RAMIREZ, JR., ET AL.,

                                Defendants, Appellees.

                                 ____________________

                     APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

                              FOR THE DISTRICT OF MAINE

                       [Hon. Gene Carter, U.S. District Judge]
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                                 ____________________

                                        Before

                                 Selya, Circuit Judge,
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                             Lay,* Senior Circuit Judge,
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                            and Pieras,** District Judge.
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                                 ____________________

            F.  Mark Terison,  Assistant  United States  Attorney,  with  whom
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        Richard S.  Cohen, United States Attorney, and  Margaret D. McGaughey,
        _________________                               _____________________
        Assistant United States Attorney, were on brief for appellant.
            Judy Potter for appellee Alejandro Rivas.
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            Jeffrey D. Clements with whom Jensen  Baird Gardner & Henry was on
            ___________________           _____________________________
        brief for appellee Domingo Ramirez, Jr.

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        _____________________
        *  Of the Eighth Circuit, sitting by designation.
        ** Of the District of Puerto Rico, sitting by designation.

PIERAS, JR., District Judge.  This  is  an  appeal from  the
               PIERAS  JR.  District Judge
                            ______________

          District  Court  of  Maine's   dismissal  with  prejudice  of  an

          indictment for violation  of the  Speedy Trial Act,  18 U.S.C.   

          3161.  The Speedy Trial Act ("STA") was violated when a number of

          pretrial motions were not  ruled upon within the thirty  day time

          period  for evaluation,  and the  defendants were held  for trial

          beyond  the  seventy day  limitation.   At  issue is  whether the

          district court abused its discretion by dismissing the indictment

          with prejudice  rather than dismissing  it without prejudice.   A

          review  of the  record reveals  that the  district court  did not

          abuse  its  discretion,  and  therefore we  affirm  the  district

          court's dismissal with prejudice.

          I.   THE FACTS
          I.   THE FACTS

               On  June  12,  1991,  defendants Domingo  Ram rez,  Jr.  and

          Alejandro  Rivas were  charged  in a  two  count indictment  with

          possession  of over  500  grams of  cocaine  with the  intent  to

          distribute,  and conspiracy  to  distribute, in  violation of  21

          U.S.C.    841(a)(1), 841(b)(1)(B) and   846.  The defendants were

          arraigned on  June 21, 1991.   Both defendants filed a  number of

          pretrial motions.  Defendant  Rivas filed his motions on  July 5,

          1991, and Ram rez filed his motions on July 8, 1991.  The motions

          were kept under advisement for eighty one days and were not ruled

          upon by the district  court until October 22, 1991,  in violation

          of 

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the  STA.  The STA safeguards an accused's Sixth Amendment "right

          to a speedy and public trial,"1 by mandating that:

               In any  case in which a  plea of not guilty  is entered, the
               trial of a defendant charged in an information or indictment
               with  the commission  of  an offense  shall commence  within
               seventy days from the filing date (and making public) of the
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               information or  indictment, or  from the date  the defendant
               has appeared before a judicial officer of the court in which
               such charge is pending, whichever date last occurs.

          18 U.S.C.    3161(c)(1).   Absent extenuating  circumstances, not

          present here, the STA  provides  for only a thirty day advisement

          period  by  the court,  when ruling  upon  pretrial motions.   18

          U.S.C.    3161(h)(J).   Thus,  the STA  was violated by  the long

          period of time  with which  the district court  took the  motions

          under advisement.2

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          1U.S. Const. amend. VI.

2The  parties dispute  the  exact number  of  days by  which  the
          permissible period was exceeded, but the dispute is immaterial to
          the  present  appeal  because   both  parties  concede  that  the
          defendants  were  detained  beyond  the STA  70  day  limitation.
          United  States v.  Taylor, 487  U.S. 326,  332 n.6  (1988) (where
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          decision  does not turn on distinction between a violation of "x"
          as opposed to "y" number of days, appellate court need not decide
          whether district  court's numerical count of  excludable days was
          erroneous).
            
               Furthermore, we conclude in  the circumstances of this case,
          that a delay of 31 days is just as serious as a delay of 46 days.
          United  States v.  Russo, 741  F.2d 1264,  1267 (11th  Cir. 1984)
          ________________________
          (delays of  several months  sufficient to bar  reprosecution even
          though crime serious),  cited with approval  in United States  v.
                                  _____ ____ ________  __ _________________
          Hastings,  847 F.2d 920, 929  (1st Cir.), cert.  denied, 488 U.S.
          ________                                  ____   ______
          925 (1988);  but cf. United  States v.  Brown, 770 F.2d  241, 244
                       ___ __  ________________________
          (1st  Cir. 1985) (delay  of 35  days not  exorbitant when  due to
          failure to anticipate a ruling by court of appeals on legal issue
          not  previously  free from  doubt  as  opposed to  administrative
          neglect), cert. denied, 474 U.S. 1064 (1986).
                    ____  ______

                                          3

When the  district court  granted the defendants'  Motion to

          Dismiss  the  Indictment  based   upon  the  STA  violation,  the

          Memorandum  of Decision placed the onus of the violation upon the

          prosecutor  and secondarily  upon the  administrative arm  of the

          court.  Yet it is understood that the ultimate responsibility for

          ruling upon pretrial motions  in a timely manner, rests  with the

          court.3   United  States v. McAfee,  780 F.2d 143,  146 (1st Cir.
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          1985) (primary responsibility for  meeting the Act's requirements

          rests on  the court despite  its administrative confusion).   The

          prosecution agrees that the  STA was violated but argues  that it

          was erroneous for  the district  court to dismiss  the case  with

          prejudice, when  the defendants had  been charged with  a serious

          drug  conspiracy  and  the  violation  was  due  to  an  isolated

          administrative oversight within the court.  

          II.  ANALYSIS
          II.  ANALYSIS

               When considering  whether an indictment should  be dismissed

          with or  without prejudice,  a district court  must consider  the

          following factors set forth in section 3162(a)(2) of the Act:

          1) the seriousness of the offense; 2) the facts and circumstances

          of the case  which led to the dismissal;  and 3) the impact  of a

          reprosecution upon  the administration of  the Act  and upon  the

          administration of justice.   Factual findings of a district court

          are entitled to substantial deference, and will  only be reversed

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          3In  order to place the onus upon the prosecutor for notification
          of  an impending STA violation, the district court must rely upon
          a written local rule, or other order of the court.  United States
                                                              _____________
          v. Miranda, 835 F.2d 830, 833-34 (11th Cir. 1988).
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for clear error.  Anderson v. Bessemer City, 470 U.S. 564 (1985).
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          Yet,  because  the  district  court was  required  to  apply  the

          statutory criteria  of section 3162(a)(2)  to the facts,  we must

          undertake a more substantive scrutiny to ensure that the judgment

          is supported in terms  of the factors delineated in  the statute.

          United  States v. Taylor, 487 U.S.  326, 337 (1988).  "[W]hen the
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          statutory factors are properly considered, and supporting factual

          findings  are not clearly in error, the district court's judgment

          of  how opposing  considerations  balance should  not lightly  be

          disturbed."  Id. 
                       __

               In the instant  case, the defendants were  indicted with the

          possession  of 500 grams of cocaine with the intent to distribute

          it, which the  district court  found to be  of "very  substantial

          seriousness."  District Court Memorandum of Decision at 3.  Thus,

          the government's criticism that  the District Court did not  give

          sufficient  consideration to  the seriousness  of the  offense is

          without  merit.   Indeed, we  have  previously stated  that "[b]y

          their  very  nature,   drugs-for-profit  offenses  are  extremely

          serious."  United States v. Hastings, 847 F.2d 920, 925 (1st Cir.
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          1988), cert. denied, 488 U.S.  925 (1990).  It is apparent  to us
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          that the district court gave due weight to our admonition.  

               The  facts and circumstances which  led to the dismissal are

          also of a  serious nature because of the  pervasiveness of such a

          risk of  administrative oversight in all courts.  Nothing unusual

          occurred in this case.   The district court merely lost track  of

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the  STA deadline, in  the midst of  attending to its  many other

          cases.4  It is  the ordinariness of the oversight which makes the

          circumstances  so serious.   It can happen  in any  court, at any

          time.   The expansiveness of  such a STA  violation risk makes it

          important for a  court to correct for the sake  of deterrence and

          more  painstaking  vigilance.5   Even  though  the oversight  was

          accomplished without malice, that does not ameliorate the gravity

          of its effects.  When a  STA violation is caused by the  court or

          the prosecutor, it weighs  in favor of granting a  dismissal with

          prejudice.    Hastings,  847  F.2d  at  925.    An administrative
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          oversight is no  excuse for a  STA violation.   United States  v.
                                                          _________________

          Caparella, 716 F.2d 976, 980 (2d Cir. 1983).
          _________

               Upon  consideration of  the third  and final  factor  of the

          "dismissal  with   prejudice"   analysis,  the   district   court

          appropriately  found  that the  impact  of  reprosecution of  the

          defendants  would be severe in this case.  "Reprosecution in this

          case would send exactly the wrong signal to those responsible for

          complying  with the  Acts [sic]  requirements and  would, in  all

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          4The  prosecution inaccurately  contends that the  district court
          erroneously weighed this second factor because the district court
          mistakenly thought  that the  defendants were incarcerated  seven
          months beyond the STA deadline.  In actuality, the district court
          merely  noted that defendants had  been incarcerated in excess of
                                                               _________
          seven  months while waiting for  timely trial, not  that they had
          waited seven months in excess of the STA deadline.  See  District
                                                              ___
          Court Memorandum of Decision at 3.

          5See Martha  L. Wood, Note, Determination  of Dismissal Sanctions
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          Under the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 56 Fordham L. Review 509, 532
          __________________________________
          (1987) (negligent  violations are  not necessarily  incidental or
          unusual  but often  are chronic  and  result of  deeply ingrained
          dilatory practices of both court and prosecutor).

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likelihood,  foster in [the] future  a cavalier regard,  if not a

          concerted  disregard,   of  those  requirements.     Justice,  as

          visualized under  the  Act, will  be  poorly   served by  such  a

          precedent."  District Court Memorandum of Decision at 4.  Such an

          observation  by the district court was very astute given the fact

          that  dismissal with  prejudice "is  more likely  [than dismissal

          without  prejudice] to  induce  salutary  changes  in  procedures

          reducing pretrial  delays."   United States v.  Taylor, 487  U.S.
                                        ________________________

          326,  342 (1988).   Even though  a prosecutor  does not  bear the

          burden  of  monitoring the  court's  compliance with  the  STA in

          absence  of  an  announced  rule,  district  courts  do  look  to

          prosecutors   for   assistance   as   officers   of   the  court.

          Consequently,  it  is wise  for prosecutors  to  be alert  to STA

          calculations in order to aid the court in  its enforcement of the

          STA.   Logically,  it was  permissible for  the "sovereign"  as a

          whole  (both  court and  prosecutor)  to be  issued  a cautionary

          reminder in  the form of  a dismissal with  prejudice, as  to the

          importance of the STA.  Hastings, 847 F.2d at 925.  "We recognize
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          that  whenever government - for whatever reasons - falls short of

          meeting the Act's requirements,  the administration of justice is

          adversely  affected."   Hastings,  847 F.2d  at 926  (legislative
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          history of the  Act demonstrates its importance in advancing both

          the public and private interests in fair and expeditious trial of

          criminal cases).

               Given the  above review of the  district court's application

          of  the STA dismissal with prejudice analysis, we cannot conclude

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that the  district court abused its discretion  in dismissing the

          indictment with prejudice, because  the district court considered

          each statutory factor and did  not, for all that appears, make  a

          serious error  of judgment  in weighing  them.   See  id. at  924
                                                           ___  __

          (describing  test  for  abuse  of discretion).    Therefore,  the

          district court's decision is hereby affirmed.
                                              affirmed
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