Birdwell v. Skeen

• Decision Date: 24 February 1993
• Docket Number: No. 91-4561,91-4561
• Parties: David Andrew BIRDWELL, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Jack SKEEN, Jr., Criminal District Attorney of Smith County, Texas, Respondent-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit

Page 1332

983 F.2d 1332

David Andrew BIRDWELL, Petitioner-Appellee, v. Jack SKEEN, Jr., Criminal District Attorney of Smith County, Texas, Respondent-Appellant.

No. 91-4561.

United States Court of Appeals, Fifth Circuit.

Feb. 24, 1993.

Amy R. Blalock, Asst. Dist. Atty., Jack Skeen, Jr., Crim. Dist. Atty., Tyler, TX, for respondent-appellant.

Kent W. Robinson (court appointed), Andrews & Kurth, Houston, TX, for petitioner-appellee.

Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.

Before KING, JOHNSON and DUHE, Circuit Judges.

JOHNSON, Circuit Judge:

In May of 1986, David Birdwell, while incarcerated in a federal prison, requested expeditious adjudication of criminal charges filed against him in Smith County, Texas, under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act ("IADA" or "Detainers Agreement"). The State brought him to trial 197 days later. Birdwell, arguing that Texas violated the speedy trial provisions of the IADA, filed this petition for habeas corpus, ¹ which the federal district court granted. We affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural History

In June of 1985, David Birdwell kidnapped a woman at gunpoint, locked her in the trunk of her car, and used that car in a bank robbery in Smith County, Texas. Federal officials arrested him in Mississippi one month later. Birdwell pleaded guilty to a federal bank robbery charge and was sentenced to imprisonment for a term of twenty years. ² In September of the same year, Birdwell was indicted for the kidnapping and bank robbery in Smith County.

Although Smith County officials knew of Birdwell's detention in Mississippi, they apparently lost contact with Birdwell. They did not learn of his incarceration in the federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas, until February of 1986. Smith County lodged a detainer against Birdwell on April 16, and Birdwell responded by requesting that the State expeditiously dispose of the charges in accordance with the IADA. The Smith County prosecutor received the request on May 19, and Birdwell arrived in the County on August 11. Birdwell requested and received the assistance of a court-appointed attorney on that same day.

Birdwell filed a motion to dismiss his indictment on August 19, because of alleged Texas Speedy Trial Act violations. During the August 22 hearing on the motion, the State requested a continuance so that it could determine whether it needed the testimony of its investigator, who was unavailable due to a foot injury. Although the court granted a one-week continuance, the hearing did not reconvene until three weeks later. At that hearing, held on September 12, 1986, the trial court overruled Birdwell's motion to dismiss.

Asserting his speedy trial rights under the IADA, Birdwell filed a motion on November 11, 1986, urging the court to begin his trial one week later. He claimed that November 17, 1986, was the last date on which his trial could legally begin. ³ The court overruled his motion on November 12. On November 25, Birdwell filed yet another motion to dismiss. This time he alleged that the State had violated his speedy trial rights under the IADA. Once again the state court overruled his motion. Birdwell's state court trial began on December 2, 1986, 197 days after Smith County received Birdwell's request for swift disposition of the outstanding charges. The jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to imprisonment for seventy-five years.

Birdwell appealed to both the Texas Court of Appeals, and later, to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals. The former court affirmed his conviction, holding that the IADA provisions had not been violated. The latter court declined to hear the case. Having exhausted his state-law remedies, Birdwell has here turned to the federal courts. Specifically, Birdwell filed an application for writ of habeas corpus in the federal district court which was granted. 765 F.Supp. 1270. The State appeals.

The State argued there, as it does before this Court, that it had not violated the IADA speedy trial provisions because the state trial court had properly granted a continuance. The State also argues that certain time periods should not count against it because, according to the State, Birdwell's requests and motions caused delays which rendered him unable to stand trial.

II. Discussion

A. IADA BACKGROUND

The IADA is a congressionally sanctioned compact which the United States, 48 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have adopted. ⁴ See Carchman v. Nash, 473 U.S. 716, 719, 105 S.Ct. 3401, 3403, 87 L.Ed.2d 516 (1985); TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 51.14 (Vernon Supp.1992) (Historical and Statutory Notes). The purpose of the IADA is to provide for the speedy disposition of charges filed in one jurisdiction against prisoners who are serving sentences in another jurisdiction. TEX.CODE CRIM.PROC.ANN. art. 51.14(I). Prior to the passage of the IADA, a jurisdiction could file a detainer ⁵ on a prisoner and refuse to prosecute its case until the prisoner's release from incarceration in the first jurisdiction.

Long-outstanding detainers disadvantage prisoners in several significant ways. See Thomas R. Clark. The Effect of Violations of the Interstate Agreement of Detainers on Subject Matter Jurisdiction 54 Fordham L.R. 1209 n. 12 (1986). First and foremost, delays in prosecution jeopardize prisoners' ability to defend themselves in court because memories fade and witnesses disappear. S.REP. NO. 1356, 91st Cong., 2nd Sess. reprinted in 1970 U.S.C.C.A.N. 4864. Second, many institutions keep prisoners who have detainers lodged against them in closer custody. Institutions might also restrict many of those prisoners' privileges and sometimes deem the prisoners ineligible for desirable work assignments or good time credit. Id. Finally, because of the uncertainty of their futures, prisoners with outstanding detainers sometimes lose interest in rehabilitative, educational, and other institutional opportunities. Id. See also Carchman, 473 U.S. at 720, 105 S.Ct. at 3403.

To combat the negative effects of longstanding detainers, Congress passed the IADA. ⁶ This agreement allows prosecutors in one jurisdiction to acquire the presence of defendants imprisoned in other jurisdictions for trial prior to the expiration of their sentences. ⁷ After the prosecutor places a detainer on a prisoner, that prisoner may request speedy disposition of the charges under article III of the Detainers Agreement. Once notified of the prisoner's request, the prosecutor then has 180 days to bring the prisoner to trial. If the prosecutor exceeds those 180 days, the charges are dismissed with prejudice and the detainer becomes invalid. ⁸

B. IADA APPLICATION

Against this background, the Court must determine whether the State violated IADA provisions in its prosecution of David Birdwell. More particularly, we must define the contours of the IADA with respect to its speedy trial, continuance, and ability-to-stand-trial provisions.

1. Standard of Review

The IADA is a congressionally sanctioned compact, so its interpretation is a question of federal law. Cuyler v. Adams, 449 U.S. 433, 442, 101 S.Ct. 703, 709, 66 L.Ed.2d 641 (1981). Thus, the Court must use Federal, not Texas, rules to interpret the Agreement. Carchman, 473 U.S. at 719, 105 S.Ct. at 3403. Further, although this Court has traditionally accorded trial courts wide discretion in granting or denying continuances, Resolution Trust Corp. v. Kemp, 951 F.2d 657, 663 (5th Cir.1992), continuances under the IADA are unique. The standard of review for the grant or denial of IADA continuances which toll the running of the speedy trial period is likewise unique. ⁹ The IADA sets forth five distinct requirements for obtaining such a continuance. ¹⁰ First, the court must have competent jurisdiction. Second, the grant of the continuance must be in open court. Third, the defendant and/or his attorney must be present. Fourth, the movant must demonstrate good cause in open court, and finally, the length of the continuance must be reasonable or necessary. ¹¹ Compliance with the first requirement is a question of law, which this Court reviews de novo. The second and third requirements present questions of fact, and the Court will reverse the district court's findings thereon only if those findings are clearly erroneous. Conformance with the fourth and fifth requirements is a mixed question of law and fact which, again, this Court reviews de novo.

2. Starting the Speedy Trial Period

The State first argues that the 180-day period did not begin to run until the Smith County District Attorney received Birdwell's request on May 19, 1986 ("receipt theory"). Birdwell argues that the period began when he executed the request on May 8 ("execution theory"). ¹² This Court must therefore construe the 180-day speedy trial provision in the IADA. ¹³ The Court's first task in statutory interpretation is to review the language of the statute. In deciding between different alternatives, courts should reject interpretations which lead to unreasonable results in favor of those which produce reasonable results. In re Ripley, 926 F.2d 440, 448 (5th Cir.1991). Further, to discern unexpressed congressional intent, courts should refer to the legislative history of the act. Boureslan v. Aramco, 857 F.2d 1014, 1022 (5th Cir.1988), aff'd sub nom. EEOC v. Arabian American Oil Co., --- U.S. ----, 111 S.Ct. 1227, 113 L.Ed.2d 274 (1991).

The language of the IADA reveals that the 180-day period does not commence until the prisoner has caused the proper officials to receive the request; that is, when the prosecutor has obtained the request. This is particularly so, since the key word in the 180-day provision is "delivered," not "sent," as used in subsection b, or "executed," as argued by Birdwell. Whittemore, 479 N.W.2d at 569 (asserting that the IADA drafters recognized the difference between the words "delivered," used in subsection a, and "sent,"...