State v. Lee
State v. Lee
Opinion of the Court
The defendant was charged in the district court for Thayer County with breaking and entering an automobile with intent to commit larceny and with breaking and entering a gasoline service station building on July 7, 1968, with intent to steal property of value, in separate counts of the same information. Defendant was found guilty by a jury on count two of the information on May 15, 1969. On May 29, 1969, defendant was sentenced to the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex for a period of 1 year at hard labor. The defendant has appealed, claiming that he was denied a speedy trial and that his motion for a discharge from custody made before and at the commencement of the trial should have been sustained. The foregoing presents the principal issue orally presented to this court.
The chronology of events from the date of defendant’s arrest until the commencement of his trial in the district court is material to the issue raised. Defendant was arrested on July 7, 1968, and lodged in the Thayer County jail on July 8, 1968. On July 10, 1968, defendant appeared in county court and waived a preliminary hearing. His appearance bond was fixed at $1,500. On
The defendant was confined in the county jail from July 8, 1968, to May 16, 1969, a total of 313 days from the date of his arrest until an appearance bond was furnished. From his arrest until his arraignment in the district court on August 28, 1968, a period of 52 days, the case proceeded expeditiously and in the usual course. It is the period from his arraignment until his trial, a matter of 259 days, that affords the basis of the claim that defendant was not afforded a speedy trial as required by the Constitution.
This case was tried within the statutory limitation of two terms of court provided by statute in cases where the defendant is held in jail pending a trial on the offense charged. § 29-1202, R. R. S. 1943. No contention isi made otherwise. Whether or not the defendant is entitled to be discharged for want of a speedy trial is therefore dependent upon all the facts and circumstances of the case. The prosecution at no time asked for any delay or contributed to any delay other than for time to file written objections to defendant’s application for the appointment of an attorney at the state’s expense on the ground that he was indigent which was granted and disposed of within 2 weeks. There is noi evidence in this record that defendant requested a more speedy trial although the defendant inquired of the court on August 28, 1968, when his case would come up for trial, to which inquiry the court replied that it could not be heard in less than 3 weeks but it would probably be in 4 or 5 weeks. The evidence is clear that the delay was not contributed to by either the prosecution or the defense.
On August 2, 1968, the defendant orally requested the
On February 6, 1969, a written motion for the appointment of counsel at state expense was on file, accompanied by an affidavit of indigency. This was evidently done to comply with the conditions precedent to the appointment of counsel. There being no change of conditions, the motion was overruled on March 7, 1969. On April 2, 1969, the court in the interest of justice, as it stated, appointed counsel for the defendant. The matter of defendant’s right to counsel involved the taking of evidence and a determination of the legal right thereto. Whether the court’s conclusions were correct or erroneous, a matter which is unnecessary to decide, is not maternal here except as they contributed to the delaying of the trial. Certainly time consumed in their determination is excluded time in determining the limitations of a speedy trial.
We take note of the fact that the trial judge in the in
A defendant confined in jail pending his trial on criminal charges is entitled to be discharged solely because of lapse of time only when he is not tried before the end of the second term of court following the filing of the charge, pursuant to section 29-1202, R. R. S. 1943. The foregoing statute supplements the constitutional guaranty of a speedy trial and fixes the maximum limits of time for trial where a defendant has not contributed to the delay. Whether or not delay within the maximum limits of the statute requires a discharge of a defendant is dependent on whether or not the time was fair and reasonable in the particular case, a matter which is in the discretion of the court. Maher v. State, 144 Neb 463, 13 N. W. 2d 641. “* * * no general principle fixes the exact time within which a trial must be had to satisfy the requirement of a speedy trial. The right to a speedy trial is necessarily relative; * * 22A C. J. S., Criminal Law, § 467 (4), p. 24. In Critser v. State, 87 Neb. 727, 127 N. W. 1073, we said: “There is room for the exercise of sound discretion on the part of the trial court, always bearing in mind that the right to a speedy trial is the constitutional right of any citizen who is accused of crime.” In Svehla v. State, 168 Neb. 553, 96 N. W. 2d 649, we said: “* * * But the legislature has not undertaken to fix any minimum time in such matters. What is a fair and reasonable time in each particular case is always in the discretion of the court. No hard and fast rule can be applied in all cases.”
“We do not approve a delay of two years in trying any defendant’s case. * * * The combination of circumstances here * * * negate any wilful failure on the part of court officials to give .defendant a speedy trial. Considering the reasons for the delay, the lack of prejudice to defendant from it, and his failure to demand a trial earlier, his Honor’s ruling that defendant’s right to a speedy trial had not been transgressed will not be disturbed.” State v. Hollars, 266. N. C. 45, 145 S. E. 2d 309. See, also, State v. Bruns, 181 Neb. 67, 146 N. W. 2d 786; State v. Ellis, 184 Neb. 523, 169 N. W. 2d 267; State v. Gau, 182 Neb. 114, 153 N. W. 2d 298.
There is no evidence in this record... that the' delay was arbitrary or oppressive. There is no evidence that
Defendant complains that the sentence of 1 year in the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex is ex.cessive. The guilt of the defendant was established beyond question. No contention is made to the contrary. Before imposing sentence, the trial court held a hearing to explore the possibility of probation for the defendant. It was discovered that defendant had been in juvenile court on several occasions and that he had been fined in county court several times and that none of the fines had been paid. The sheriff testified that he held a warrant or detainer for the arrest of defendant for a breaking and entering charge in York County. The trial court announced that probation was not possible under such circumstances. The sentence was then imposed.
We point out that the sentence was the minimum for the offense of breaking and entering, and was imposed after giving full consideration of the time served in the county jail while awaiting trial. The sentence is not excessive.
Affirmed.
Concurring Opinion
concurring.
I concur in the decision in this case solely upon the ground of a lack of prejudice to the defendant. However, in view of the fact that the defendant has already ■been in jail for 311 days, the sentence of 1 year’s im
An indigent 18-year-old youth, never convicted of a felony, who had never served any time in jail before, was charged with breaking and entering. He was confined in the county jail for 311 days without trial. He was confined in jail 268 days before counsel was appointed for him. During that period of time his requests for appointment of counsel were resisted by the county attorney, and denied by the court on the ground that his parents were not indigent. He remained in jail for 259 days after arraignment before trial. These events took place in Thayer County, Nebraska, where the docket is not crowded and the State offers no excuse for the delay.
The statutory minimum sentence to the Penal and Correctional Complex for this offense was one year. The defendant was sentenced to one year in the Penal and Correctional Complex, which was in addition to the 311 days he had already spent in jail. There was, at that time, no statutory authority for the sentencing court or the Director of Corrections to credit the time already spent in jail on a sentence to the Penal and Correctional Complex. That situation has now been corrected insofar as the Director of Corrections is concerned. See L..B. 1307, § 37(1), 1969 Legislative Session, effective August 25, 1969. We find no authorization as yet for the sentencing court to give credit for jail time where a minimum sentence to the Penal and Correctional Complex is required and imposed.
In Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U. S. 213, 87 S. Ct. 988, 18 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1967), the Supreme Court said: "We hold here that the right to a speedy trial is as fundamental as any of the rights secured by the Sixth Amend
The opinion supporting the conviction and sentence here relies heavily on section 29-1202, R. R. S. 1943, which fixes two terms of court as the maximum period after which the defendant is entitled to be discharged for want of a speedy trial. That section has remained completely unchanged at least since 1873. See G. S. 1873, p. 813. In 1873, however, terms of court were set by statute. Terms of court within the first Judicial District in 1873 varied from one year, as in Thiayer County, to three a year in Otoe County. See G. S. 1873, p. 258. In 1873, a defendant arraigned on August 28, in Thayer County would not have been entitled to statutory discharge -until June 1876, while in Otoe County, he would have been entitled to discharge in March 1874. Such inequity and lack of uniformity continue today.
In 1875, the new Constitution provided that times of holding court should be fixed by the judges of the district courts until otherwise provided by law. Constitution of 1875, Article XVI, § 26. The current statute requires judges of the district court in the last two months of each year to fix the time of holding terms of court during the ensuing year. § 24-303, R. R. S. 1943. There is no limitation as to the number or frequency of terms. Section 24-505, R. R. S. 1943, requires county courts to hold a regular term of court each calendar month for the trial of civil cases. We have held that this statute does not fix terms of court for criminal cases on the issue of a speedy trial. See State v. Bruns, 181 Neb. 67, 146 N. W. 2d 786.
We are advised that in 1968, the terms of the district court in Thayer County were February 21 and Sep
The terms of court approach to expressing the time limitations is still used in most states. This approach is obviously a residual appendage carried over from circuit riding days. See commentary to ABA Standards Relating to Speedy Trial, § 2.1. It should be noted also that ABA Standard 2.1, in referring to time limits uses the words “days or months.” The commentary also points out that in the seven jurisdictions, which in 1967 expressed the time in days or months rather than in terms of court, the times range from 75 days to 6 months. The President’s Crime . Commission has proposed that the period from arrest to trial of felony cases be not more than 4 months. The President’s Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice, The Challenge of Crime in a Free Society, 155 (1967).
We recognize that under present constitutional, statutory, and judicial standards, each individual case must be determined on its own facts. Not only the time involved in the delay, but the reasons for the delay, prejudice to the defendant, and a waiver of the constitutional right by the defendant may all be involved.
On the issue of reasons for the delay, the appropriate test is whether a purposeful or oppressive violation of Sixth Amendment-rights occurred. Where the delay was by accident or oversight, and not purposeful and oppressive, courts should and have, in many instances, refused to find the delay constitutionally objectionable. See United States ex rel. Solomon v. Mancusi, 412 F. 2d 88 (1969). In the case before us, however, there can be little reasonable question but that the delay resulted not by mere accident or oversight, but from affirmative objections on the part of the county attorney to the appointment of counsel for an 18-year-old indigent defendant, and the trial court’s refusal to appoint counsel from August 13, 1968, until April 2, 1969. The defendant first requested counsel on August 2, 1968, less than 30 days after his arrest and confinement. That request was denied. The defendant even filed a written application for appointment of counsel and an affidavit in support thereof on February 6, 1-969, in which he specifically stated that he had been held in jail continuously since July 7, 1968. At the regular call of the docket on Feb
Counsel promptly filed a motion to dismiss for denial of due process and a speedy trial. That motion was heard one month later and denied, and the trial was held 43 days after counsel was finally appointed. Under such circumstances, the record is powerfully persuasive that the delay here cannot be classified as accidental or an oversight, but was, instead, purposeful and oppressive.
The opinion supporting the conviction and sentence here also finds no evidence that there was any prejudice to the defendant. The possibility of prejudice from the delay is an important factor in close cases, but the very assumption of the Sixth Amendment is that unreasonable delays are, by their nature, prejudicial. It is not generally necessary for the defendant to demonstrate affirmatively how he has been prejudiced by an unreasonable delay. Hedgepeth v. United States, 364 F. 2d 684 (1966).
We think it clear that the prejudice referred to in most speedy trial cases refers to prejudice at trial, but there are other types of prejudice as well. In United States v. Ewell, 383 U. S. 116, 86 S. Ct. 773, 15 L. Ed. 2d 627 (1966), the court said: “This guarantee is an important safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial, to minimize anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation, and to limit possibilities that long delay will impair the ability of an accused to defend himself.” It can hardly be doubted that the defendant here was subjected to “undue and oppressive incarceration.” If the defendant had been found not guilty, there could have been no prejudice “at trial.” Yet we think no one would disagree that in that event the undue and oppressive incarceration would have been “prejudicial.”
Here an 18-year-old defendant, never before in jail and never previously convicted of a felony, received the minimum one-year sentence required by law if he was to be sentenced to the Penal and Correctional Complex. The court had no statutory authorization to credit jail time on that minimum penitentiary sentence. Under such circumstances, the fact that the trial court fully considered the jail time in passing sentence ought not to be construed as proof that the sentence would otherwise have been two years or longer. The fact that the court stated that he could not consider the defendant for probation is inconclusive. It is noteworthy that although the defendant received the minimum penitentiary sentence, his sentence might have been a fine, or imprisonment in the county jail for not exceeding six months. See § 28-532, R. R. S. 1943. The facts here emphatically do not remove a reasonable possibility of prejudice, much less affirmatively establish a complete lack of prejudice. If the defendant were to serve the one-year sentence here with full credit for good time while serving it, he would be released in less than the time he spent in jail before trial. Even assuming that the Director of Corrections exercises his new statutory
With respect to waiver, the opinion for affirming the conviction and sentence discusses cases in which this court and others have held that the right to speedy trial is waived if an accused failed to make some effort to secure a speedy trial. That opinion states: “There is no evidence that defendant demanded or requested a speedy trial or made any effort to obtain a speedier trial.” We think it only necessary to point out that an indigent defendant who has been denied counsel for 8 months and who inquired at the time of arraignment as to when his trial might be, can hardly be said to have waived his constitutional right to a speedy trial. It is the prosecution and not the defense that is charged with bringing a case to trial. See Hedgepeth v. United States, supra.
Under the circumstances of this case, the defendant was denied his constitutional right to a speedy trial, and that denial was purposeful, oppressive, and prejudicial. The judgment should be reversed and the defendant discharged.
Three judges of this court have concurred in affirming the conviction and sentence. One judge has concurred in the conviction and the decision to affirm it, but has found the sentence excessive, and that it should be reduced to 2 months imprisonment in the county jail. Under the facts and circumstances here, and without retreating in any respect from the views expressed in this opinion, we also find the sentence excessive. See §§ 28-532 and 29-2308, R. R. S. 1943. We therefore join in reducing the sentence here to 2 months imprisonment in the county jail in Thayer County, Nebraska.
Four Judges of this court concur in sustaining the jury verdict and the finding of guilty in this case. Four
The judgment of the district court is affirmed and the sentence is modified. The sentence is reduced to a period of 2 months in the county jail.
Affirmed as modified.
Concurring Opinion
concurring in finding of guilt and dissenting from reduction of sentence.
I concur with the opinion of Carter, J., that, under the circumstances attendant upon this case, the failure to try defendant more promptly was not prejudicial and is not indicative of an abuse of discretion nor was the sentence excessive.
The opinion of McCown, Spencer, and Sinith, JJ., holds forth at considerable length on a critique of present Nebraska law. It complains that our law does not specifically provide that the sentencing court may give credit for time spent in jail where a minimum sentence is required. The criticism is not pertinent and is completely unwarranted. Defendant received a sentence of 1 year in the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex on a charge of breaking and entering. The statute, section 28-532, R. R. S. 1943, provides that in such cases the defendant may be either fined or imprisoned in the county jail for not to exceed 6 months, in lieu of being sentenced to the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex. This certainly allows sufficient latitude to give credit for “jailtime.”
Further complaint is made regarding section 29-1202, R. R. S. 1943, which fixes 2 terms of court as the maximum period over which a defendant may be held prior to trial. Again, the criticism is not pertinent. It is conceded in the opinion that this court is free to determine minimum time limits on a factual case-by-case basis. These criticisms are patent efforts to solicit legislative action. They constitute a direct and calculated invasion of the legislative field and, as such, a willful violation of the tripartite division of governmental powers pro
The proponents of the opinion are in an anomalous and contradictory position. After adopting the position that the defendant should be discharged on the theory that his right to a speedy trial was unlawfully denied, they join in the opinion of Boslaugh, J., requiring the imposition of a 2-month jail sentence. One position or the other is necessarily incorrect.
To sustain their position, the proponents of the opinion cite United States v. Ewell, 383 U. S. 116, 86 S. Ct. 773, 15 L. Ed. 2d 627 (1966), wherein the court said: “This guarantee (of speedy trial) is an important safeguard to prevent undue and oppressive incarceration prior to trial, to minimize anxiety and concern accompanying public accusation, and to limit possibilities that long delay will impair the ability of an accused to defend himself.” None of these considerations are here applicable. Undue incarceration before trial and concern over public accusation would be very material to an innocent person wrongfully accused, but scarcely so to one who is guilty when the court takes the period of incarceration into consideration in fixing sentence. There is not the slighest hint or contention that defendant’s ability to defend himself was impaired. Indeed, he offered no evidence whatever in his own behalf.
The contention that the sentence was excessive is likewise without merit. It has long been the rule of this court that the punishment of a statutory offense is left to the discretion of the trial court, to be exercised within prescribed limits, and a sentence imposed within such
At the time of imposing sentence, the trial court was well aware that he had four alternatives: Probation, a fine, a jail sentence, or a sentence to the Penal and Correctional Complex. It was dealing with a young man who had not before been convicted of a felony, but who was not exactly a first offender. Defendant owed a number of fines imposed for various misdemeanors. Still more serious, he was wanted in two other counties on breaking and entering charges. Under such circumstances, can it reasonably be contended that he should have been placed on probation or punishment limited to a fine or a short sentence to the county jail? Instead, the court sentenced him to the minimum of 1 year in the Nebraska Penal and Correctional Complex and in so doing, stated: “It now becomes my function and duty to impose sentence upon you. In imposing sentence I’ve given full consideration to the record, to the offense charged against you, your age, your background, your prior criminal record, which, I know, shows no prior felony convictions; I’ve given consideration, full consideration, to the record showing the date of your arrest, your incarceration and the time of your incarceration in the County Jail of this county, up until the time of your release on bail on May 16th of this year; I’ve given full consideration to the amount of bail that has been set for you, whether or not it might be con
It is apparent that the court felt this young man merited a heavier sentence but reduced it to 1 year to allow for the time spent in jail prior to trial. This was the only manner in which the court could give credit for “jailtime” and the court having availed itself of the opportunity there was no prejudice sustained by reason of defendant’s stay in jail prior to trial and no abuse of discretion. For this court to now reduce the sentence further amounts to giving “double time” or a double allowance for the time in jail. It amounts to a subversion of the law without regard to the record before the court and to an encroachment upon the powers and prerogatives of the Board of Pardons and Paroles. I reiterate that the reduction of this sentence is an unjustified assertion of naked judicial power and a violation of the legal principles applicable in such situations.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- State of Nebraska, Appellee, v. Edwin Lee, Appellant
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- Published