Zangerl v. State

100 S.W.3d 695, 352 Ark. 278, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 127
CourtSupreme Court of Arkansas
DecidedMarch 13, 2003
DocketCR 02-1296
StatusPublished
Cited by17 cases

This text of 100 S.W.3d 695 (Zangerl v. State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Supreme Court of Arkansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Zangerl v. State, 100 S.W.3d 695, 352 Ark. 278, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 127 (Ark. 2003).

Opinions

Robert L. Brown, Justice.

Appellant Rudolph Zangerl, icappeals e. judgment of conviction for third-offense DWI and asserts a violation of his right to a speedy trial. We agree that his speedy-trial rights were violated, and we reverse his judgment of conviction and dismiss the case.

On August 25, 1999, Zangerl was arrested for driving while intoxicated in the city of Humphrey. He was issued a ticket by the arresting police officer and advised of his court-appearance date of September 14, 1999, in Humphrey city court for taking a plea. That plea date was subsequently continued in order to give Zangerl an opportunity to consult with an attorney. On November 9, 1999, Zangerl entered a plea of not guilty in city court, and his trial was set for December 14, 1999. On December 14, 1999, the case was transferred to the Arkansas County Circuit Court on the belief that this was Zangerl’s fourth DWI offense and, as such, a felony.

On January 18, 2000, an information was filed in circuit court charging Zangerl with fourth-offense DWI. Zangerl’s pretrial hearing was set for June 12, 2000, and his jury trial was set for July 6, 2000. On June 9, 2000, Zangerl moved for a continuance of his pretrial hearing, because his counsel was in the process of preparing pretrial motions. On June 13, 2000, the circuit court reset his pretrial hearing for June 26, 2000. On June 21, 2000, Zangerl filed two pretrial motions. The first motion was to exclude his prior DWI convictions based upon a violation of the ex post facto clause, while the second motion was to exclude the prior convictions due to the statute of limitations.

On June 26, 2000, the court held Zangerl’s pretrial hearing. At the hearing, defense counsel informed the court that Zangerl’s pretrial motions “[were] of a variety that can be dealt with by the Court, based on the motions and perhaps, briefs [,]” but that Zangerl “would not need an evidentiary hearing on those.” The court then “ma[d]e the briefs due” on July 11, 2000, and reset the trial for August 10, 2000. The jury trial did not take place on July 6, 2000, and no explanation for this is contained in the record.

On August 16, 2000, which was six days after the scheduled trial date, the court reset the trial date for October 12, 2000, and stated the reason as “docket congestion, older case tried[.]” On October 19, 2000, which was seven days after the scheduled trial date, the court reset the case for January 4, 2001, and stated the reason as “Defendant’s request, waiting on a brief from Mr. Molock[.]” On January 11, 2001, which was seven days after the scheduled trial date, the court again reset the trial for February 13, 2001, at the State’s request. On January 23, 2001, the circuit court entered its order denying Zangerl’s two motions to exclude prior DWI convictions. On January 30, 2001, Zangerl waived his right to a jury trial. On March 1, 2001, the court reset the case for a nonjury trial to be held on April 16, 2001.

On April 9, 2001, Zangerl filed his motion to dismiss based on an alleged violation of his right to a speedy trial. In his brief-in-support of the motion, Zangerl conceded that 181 days should be charged to him in the speedy-trial calculations. On April 16, 2001, the motion was heard before Zangerl’s bench trial. At the hearing, Zangerl argued that his right to a speedy trial had been violated in that he was tried on the 566th day following his arrest on August 25, 1999. He then conceded that the following time periods should be charged to him: September 16, 1999, to November 9, 1999, for continuances at his request; June 21, 2000, to July 26, 2000, for the time in which his motion to exclude prior convictions was filed and heard; July 6, 2000, to August 8, 2000, for a continuance at his request; and February 13, 2001, to April 16, 2001, for his request to have a non-jury trial rather than a jury trial. The total days conceded by Zangerl was 164.

The State responded that even using the arrest date of August 25, 1999, as a starting point, the State was still within its time because only 275 days were attributable to either the circuit court’s or State’s requests or actions. Zangerl then made four arguments in reply: (1) that in response to the State’s statement that the October 12, 2000 trial resetting was at the defendant’s request due to his inability to get to Arkansas County because he was in school in Jonesboro, there had been no time in which he was unable to attend because of school; (2) his request to change a pretrial-hearing date did not affect the trial date; (3) a continuance for docket congestion requires exceptional circumstances to be set out in the docket sheet or by court order under the criminal rules; and (4) his motions to exclude prior convictions of June 21, 2000, did not contain requests for a continuance; thus, the continuance on October 19, 2000, stating “Defendant’s request, waiting on a brief from Mr. Molock” was in error. Zangerl claimed that the State was still 46 days over the 365-day limit. The State countered that even assuming this, the delay had been only 336 days. The court denied Zangerl’s motion and, after the ensuing trial, found him guilty of DWI.

On May 29, 2001, the court held a sentencing hearing. At the sentencing hearing, the State conceded that this was Zangerl’s third DWI offense, not his fourth. Thus, the crime was a misdemeanor, not a felony. The court then sentenced Zangerl to sixty days in jail and ninety days of community service, and ordered him to pay a fine of $3,500 plus $300 in costs. The court further ordered that his driver’s license be revoked. On June 8, 2001, the court entered an order memorializing the judgment of conviction and sentence.

Zangerl appealed his conviction and sentence to the court of appeals, and the court of appeals reversed the conviction in an unpublished opinion and dismissed. See Zangerl v. State, No. CACR01-1437 (Nov. 13, 2002). This court subsequently granted the State’s petition for review. When we hear an appeal pursuant to a grant of a petition for review, we review the matter as if it were originally filed in this court. See Ilo v. State, 350 Ark. 138, 85 S.W.3d 542 (2002); Proctor v. State, 349 Ark. 648, 79 S.W.3d 370 (2002).

Zangerl’s sole point on appeal is that the circuit judge erred in denying his motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds. The apposite law governing speedy trials has been often stated by this court. Arkansas Rule of Criminal Procedure 28 governs speedy-trial determinations. It requires the State to try a defendant within twelve months, excluding any periods of delay authorized by Ark. R. Crim. P. 28.3. See Ark. R. Crim. P. 28.1 (2002); Miles v. State, 348 Ark. 544, 75 S.W.2d 677 (2002). The time for trial begins to run from the date the charge is filed; however, if prior to that time, the defendant has been continuously held in custody, on bail, or lawfully at liberty, the time shall begin to run from the date of arrest. See Ark. R. Crim. P. 28.2(a); Ferguson v. State, 343 Ark. 159, 33 S.W.3d 115 (2000). Once a defendant demonstrates a prima facie case of a speedy-trial violation, the burden is on the State to show that the delay was the result of the defendant’s conduct or was otherwise justified. See Turner v. State, 349 Ark.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Miller v. State
269 S.W.3d 400 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2007)
Rhoden v. State
256 S.W.3d 506 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2007)
Anderson v. State
220 S.W.3d 225 (Court of Appeals of Arkansas, 2005)
Jefferson v. State
198 S.W.3d 527 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Dodson v. State
191 S.W.3d 511 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Watson v. State
188 S.W.3d 921 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Jolly v. State
189 S.W.3d 40 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Baird v. State
182 S.W.3d 136 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Mann v. State
161 S.W.3d 826 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Porter v. State
145 S.W.3d 376 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Jones v. State
144 S.W.3d 254 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2004)
Zangerl v. State
100 S.W.3d 695 (Supreme Court of Arkansas, 2003)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
100 S.W.3d 695, 352 Ark. 278, 2003 Ark. LEXIS 127, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/zangerl-v-state-ark-2003.