United States v. Scott

743 F. Supp. 400, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9021, 1990 WL 101061
CourtDistrict Court, D. Maryland
DecidedJuly 11, 1990
DocketCrim. K-90-0161
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 743 F. Supp. 400 (United States v. Scott) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, D. Maryland primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. Scott, 743 F. Supp. 400, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9021, 1990 WL 101061 (D. Md. 1990).

Opinion

FRANK A. KAUFMAN, Senior District Judge.

Defendant Scott has moved to dismiss with prejudice the indictment pending against him as a result of the government’s failure to comply with the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-62. The government agrees that the indictment should be dismissed but contends such dismissal should be without prejudice. For the reasons which follow, defendant’s motion to dismiss, with prejudice, will be granted.

I.

Two sections of the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 3161-74, are most important herein. Section 3161(b) provides in relevant part:

Any information or indictment charging an individual with the commission of an offense shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which such individual was arrested or served with a summons in connection with such charges.

Section 3162(a)(1) provides:

If, in the case of any individual against whom a complaint is filed charging such individual with an offense, no indictment *401 or information is filed within the time limit required by section 3161(b) ..., such charge against that individual contained in such complaint shall be dismissed or otherwise dropped. In determining whether to dismiss the case with or without prejudice, the court shall consider, among others, each of the following factors: the seriousness of the offense; the facts and circumstances of the case which led to the dismissal; and the impact of a reprosecution on the administration of this chapter and on the administration of justice.

II.

In this case, Scott is charged in a one-count indictment, as follows: 1

On or about February 25, 1989, in the State and District of Maryland,
ALVIN SYLVESTER SCOTT
having been lawfully committed following conviction to the custody of the Attorney General, by virtue of a Judgment and Commitment Order of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, did willfully escape from the Volunteers of America, 4601 E. Monument Street, Baltimore, Maryland 21205, an institution in which he was confined by the direction of the Attorney General.
18 U.S.C. Section 751(a)

On June 23, 1977, Scott was sentenced for bank robbery by the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York to a term of fifteen years. Scott’s federal sentence was interrupted by his 1979 transfer to the Maryland prison system to serve a state sentence of fifteen years for robbery with a deadly weapon. Scott was returned to federal custody on March 29, 1982. When Scott allegedly escaped in 1989, he was residing, en route to his expected parole, at the Volunteers of America (VOA), a halfway house located in Baltimore, Maryland.

On April 14, 1989, United States Magistrate Paul Rosenberg of this Court issued an arrest warrant for Scott for escape in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 751(a) based on a criminal complaint alleging that Scott had departed without permission from the VOA. Scott was arrested by the Baltimore County Police upon charges of battery and resisting arrest in early January, 1990. 2 On January 12, 1990, Scott was returned to federal custody on the outstanding bench warrant which had been issued by Magistrate Rosenberg. Accordingly, it was on January 12, 1990, as both sides agree, that the thirty-day period provided by section 3161(b) began to run. It was also on January 12, 1990 that Scott’s initial appearance on the escape charge was conducted before Magistrate Rosenberg who on that day appointed the Federal Public Defender to represent Scott. Since January 12, 1990, Scott has been detained at the Baltimore City Jail in pretrial confinement.

On January 22,1990, ten days after Scott was returned to federal custody following his arrest and ten days after section 3161(b)’s thirty-day period began to run, government and defense counsel discussed over the telephone a plea offer made by the government pursuant to which it was proposed that Scott plead guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 751(a). 3 Defense counsel *402 requested that the plea be entered pursuant to Federal Criminal Rule 11(e)(1)(C) with an agreed sentence of eighteen months’ incarceration to begin on the date of sentencing. 4

On February 6, 1990, government counsel sent a proposed written plea agreement to defense counsel. That proposal required Scott to plead guilty to a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 751, pursuant to subparagraph (A) and/or (B) of Federal Criminal Rule 11(e)(1), rather than subparagraph (C), 5 and included a government commitment to recommend that Scott be sentenced at the low end of whatever sentencing guideline would subsequently be determined by the Court to be applicable in the light of the presentence report. On February 12, 1990, defense counsel sent a letter to government counsel referring to the terms of the plea agreement as discussed on January 22, 1990, and requested that the government modify its written plea offer of February 6, 1990 in accordance with that discussion.

On February 22, 1990, government counsel sent a letter to defense counsel stating that an oral plea offer is not binding upon the government and requesting a response to the February 6, 1990 written plea offer by March 5, 1990. On March 9, 1990, defense counsel sent a letter to the government explaining defense counsel’s inability to reach government counsel by telephone and urging prompt resolution of the case “due to continuing speedy trial violations.” The letter went on to propose a plea agreement under Federal Criminal Rule 11(e)(1)(C) with a sentence of twenty-seven months to begin on the date of Scott’s arrest.

On March 20, 1990, government counsel sent a letter to defense counsel rejecting defendant’s proposal, renewing the February 6, 1990 plea offer, and requesting a response to that offer by March 25, 1990. On March 21, 1990, defense counsel rejected the government’s March 20, 1990 renewal of the written plea offer of February 6, 1990 in a telephone conversation with government counsel.

After defendant broke off plea negotiations with the government on March 21, 1990, government counsel did not present the ease to a grand jury until April 17, 1990, twenty-seven days later.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
743 F. Supp. 400, 1990 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9021, 1990 WL 101061, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-scott-mdd-1990.