United States v. William Henry Davenport, A/K/A "Bill"

935 F.2d 1223, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 15247, 1991 WL 114779
CourtCourt of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
DecidedJuly 17, 1991
Docket90-5561
StatusPublished
Cited by68 cases

This text of 935 F.2d 1223 (United States v. William Henry Davenport, A/K/A "Bill") is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
United States v. William Henry Davenport, A/K/A "Bill", 935 F.2d 1223, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 15247, 1991 WL 114779 (11th Cir. 1991).

Opinion

ANDERSON, Circuit Judge:

Appellant William Davenport was indicted under three counts of a seven-count indictment targeted at an alleged scheme to import into the United States and distribute approximately 15,000 pounds of marijuana. After spending more than twenty-one months in pretrial detention, appellant was convicted under count one of conspiring to import marijuana into the United States in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 952(a) and under count two of unlawful distribution of marijuana in violation of 21 U.S. C.A. § 959 and 18 U.S.C.A. § 2. 1 Appellant was given two consecutive fifteen-year sentences, one for each count, and a special three-year parole term for the second count. Appellant is currently incarcerated.

On appeal, appellant alleges that the government violated his rights to a speedy trial under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S. C.A. § 3161 et seq., and the Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution. For the reasons set forth below, we hold that neither the Speedy Trial Act nor the Constitution were violated.

I. STATEMENT OF FACTS

On June 15, 1988, appellant was indicted in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida under three counts of a seven-count indictment that involved nineteen other alleged coconspira-tors. Appellant was arrested on July 18, 1988, and was arraigned before a magistrate judge on July 20, 1988. On July 22, 1988, the district court ordered that appellant be held without bond until trial based on the following findings: that appellant was presently on either parole or probation from a prior drug offense in Georgia; that appellant was awaiting trial in a cocaine trafficking case in Palm Beach County, Florida; that appellant possessed a bag of marijuana, two kilograms of cocaine, and numerous firearms and other weapons at the time of his arrest; and that appellant had spent over half of his forty-eight years in prison for felony convictions. The district court made an express finding that appellant presented a serious risk of flight and/or a serious danger to the community.

On July 29,1988, appellant filed a motion seeking an amendment of the conditions of his release in which he challenged the magistrate judge’s bases for imposing pretrial detention. The district court denied this motion on September 20, 1988. Appellant appealed the denial of that motion to this court on September 29, 1988. This court affirmed the district court’s ruling and adopted the magistrate’s pretrial detention order.

On October 18, 1988, appellant filed a motion for release under 18 U.S.C.A. § 3164 and filed another motion for reconsideration of his detention status on November 4, 1988. On November 9, 1988, the district court denied both motions.

*1227 Appellant filed a petition for writ of ha-beas corpus before this court on November 17,1988, challenging the trial court’s denial of his motion for release under § 3164. This court transferred the petition to the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida on May 4, 1989. The district court denied the petition on April 23, 1990.

On September 15, 1989, appellant filed a motion to dismiss the indictment under the Speedy Trial Act. This motion was denied on September 22, 1989.

Appellant filed a motion for severance on September 18, 1989. The district court denied this motion on January 4, 1990. While the motion for severance was pending, appellant also moved for a review of his bond status on October 23, 1989. R2.658. The magistrate judge denied this motion on October 31, 1989.

On February 12, 1990, appellant filed a motion for a hearing to determine whether his continued pretrial detention deprived him of due process under the Fifth Amendment. On February 21, 1990, the magistrate judge ordered a hearing. It is disputed whether a “hearing” was actually held, but it is clear that the parties met on March 9, 1990, with the magistrate judge, who took the matter under advisement and gave the parties until March 14, 1990, to file additional materials regarding appellant’s motion. On March 19, 1990, the magistrate judge ordered appellant to be either tried or released on bond by April 16, 1990.

Prior to the entry of the magistrate judge’s order, appellant filed a second motion to dismiss the indictment and requested a hearing. Appellant asserted his right to a speedy trial under the Speedy Trial Act and, for the first time, the Sixth Amendment. The trial court denied this motion without a hearing on February 16, 1990.

The district court entered an order on April 6, 1990, setting appellant’s trial for April 23, 1990. Appellant responded by moving for a bond hearing on the grounds that he would not be tried within the time ordered by the magistrate judge. Upon receiving the district court’s order, the magistrate judge issued a new order changing the date on which appellant had to be tried or released on bond from April 16, 1990, to April 23, 1990.

In addition to the pretrial motions filed by appellant, numerous pretrial motions were also submitted by his codefendants. Relevant motions filed by codefendants will be discussed in our analysis of appellant’s claims under the Speedy Trial Act.

Appellant’s trial began on April 23, 1990, the date specified by the magistrate judge’s second order. As discussed above, appellant was convicted under two of the three counts under which he was charged and sentenced to two consecutive fifteen-year prison terms with a special three-year parole term on the second count.

II. THE SPEEDY TRIAL ACT

The Speedy Trial Act provides that the trial of any criminal defendant who pleads not guilty must begin within seventy days of the filing of the indictment or the date on which the defendant first appears before a judicial officer of the court in which the charges are pending, whichever occurs later. 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161(c)(1) (West Supp. 1989). If the defendant is not tried within the proper time limit, the indictment must be dismissed upon motion by the defendant. 18 U.S.C.A. § 3162(a)(2). The Speedy Trial Act excludes certain periods of time, however, from the calculation of the seventy-day limit. 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161(h). The exclusions which are relevant to the instant case provide as follows:

(h) The following periods of delay shall be excluded ... in computing the time within which the trial of any such offense must commence:
(1) Any period of delay resulting from other proceedings concerning the defendant, including but not limited to—
(E) delay resulting from any interlocutory appeal;
(F) delay resulting from any pretrial motion, from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hear *1228 ing on, or other prompt disposition of such motion;
(J) delay reasonably attributed to any period, not to exceed thirty days, during which any proceeding concerning the defendant is actually under advisement by the court ...

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Bluebook (online)
935 F.2d 1223, 1991 U.S. App. LEXIS 15247, 1991 WL 114779, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/united-states-v-william-henry-davenport-aka-bill-ca11-1991.