Ex Parte Walker

• Decision Date: 04 November 2005
• Docket Number: 1031944.
• Court: Alabama Supreme Court
• Parties: Ex parte Brigitte Yvonne WALKER. (In re Brigitte Yvonne Walker v. State of Alabama).

928 So.2d 259

Ex parte Brigitte Yvonne WALKER.

(In re Brigitte Yvonne Walker v. State of Alabama).

1031944.

Supreme Court of Alabama.

November 4, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

M. Virginia Buck, Northport, for petitioner.

Troy King, atty. gen., and Stephanie N. Morman and Daniel W. Madison, asst. attys. gen., for respondent.

SMITH, Justice.¹

On March 25, 2004, Brigitte Yvonne Walker pleaded guilty in the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court to 16 counts of fraudulent use of a credit card, a violation of § 13A-9-14(b), Ala.Code 1975. Walker specifically reserved for appellate review the trial court's denial of her speedy-trial motion. In an unpublished memorandum, the Court of Criminal Appeals unanimously affirmed Walker's convictions. Walker v. State (No. CR-03-1062, Aug. 20, 2004), 920 So.2d 613 (Ala.Crim.App.2004) (table). In evaluating Walker's speedy-trial claim, both the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals balanced the four factors set out in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), and held that because Walker had not shown actual prejudice (the fourth factor), she had not established that her right to a speedy trial had been violated. We granted Walker's petition for certiorari review, and we now affirm.

I. Facts and Procedural History

Although the record in this case is somewhat sparse, the relevant dates and events are not in dispute. Walker committed the offenses in July 1999. Walker was indicted on January 14, 2000, but she was not arrested until January 26, 2003. On June 9, 2003, Walker filed a "Motion to Dismiss Indictment for Want of Speedy Trial." After conducting a hearing on July 24, 2003, the trial court denied Walker's motion on July 31, 2003. Walker then filed a "motion to reconsider," which the trial court denied on September 30, 2003. Following plea negotiations, Walker pleaded guilty to the charges in the indictment on March 25, 2004, but she specifically reserved her right to appeal the trial court's denial of her motion to dismiss for want of speedy trial.

Both the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Walker's claim that the approximately 50-month delay from the date of Walker's indictment until the date of her plea violated her Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Both courts analyzed Walker's speedy-trial claim by balancing the four Barker factors: "[1] [l]ength of delay, [2] the reason for the delay, [3] the defendant's assertion of [her] right, and [4] prejudice to the defendant." 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182. See also Ex parte Carrell, 565 So.2d 104, 105 (Ala. 1990). The trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals rejected Walker's contention that because the first three Barker factors weighed in her favor, she did not have to prove the fourth factor — that she was prejudiced by the delay.

Walker contends that the refusal by the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals to find a violation of her right to a speedy trial without a showing of actual prejudice is contrary to Alabama caselaw. Specifically, Walker's petition for the writ of certiorari alleges that the decisions of the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals conflict with three Alabama cases: Ex parte Clopton, 656 So.2d 1243 (Ala. 1995), Ex parte Carrell, supra, and Turner v. State, 378 So.2d 1173 (Ala.Crim.App. 1979).

II. Standard of Review

Walker's case involves only issues of law and the application of the law to the undisputed facts. Thus, our review is de novo. See Ex parte Heard, [Ms. 1020241, Dec. 19, 2003] ___ So.2d ___, ___ (Ala. 2003) ("The facts before us are undisputed. The only question to be decided is a question of law, and our review therefore is de novo.") (citing Ex parte Key, 890 So.2d 1056, 1059 (Ala.2003) ("This Court reviews pure questions of law in criminal cases de novo."), and State v. Hill, 690 So.2d 1201, 1203-04 (Ala.1996)).

Although the trial court conducted a hearing on Walker's motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds, Walker did not include a transcript of that hearing in the record on appeal. The State, relying on Allison v. State, 645 So.2d 358 (Ala.Crim. App.1994), argues that Walker's failure to include a transcript of that hearing renders the record incomplete and that, therefore, our standard of review should be whether the trial court exceeded its discretion. Walker explains that the hearing was not transcribed, and she argues that even without a transcript of the speedy-trial hearing, the record is nonetheless complete for purposes of our review because, she says, the record contains findings sufficient for this Court to apply the Barker factors. We agree and thus distinguish Allison.

In Allison, the Court of Criminal Appeals could not balance the Barker factors because the record did not contain sufficient facts relating to those factors. 645 So.2d at 361-62. Although the trial court in Allison conducted a hearing on the defendant's speedy-trial claim, the record contained no transcript of the speedy-trial hearing because the defendant had failed to request a copy of the transcript of the speedy-trial hearing. 645 So.2d at 359-60. Further, the trial court in Allison did not make any specific findings regarding the defendant's speedy-trial claim. Because of the incomplete state of the record, the Court of Criminal Appeals was unable to determine, among other things, the actual length of the delay and thus could not apply the Barker factors. 645 So.2d at 361-62.

Like Allison, the record in Walker's case contains no transcript of the speedy-trial hearing. But unlike the defendant in Allison, Walker requested a copy of the transcript of the speedy-trial hearing. More importantly, the trial court made specific, written findings and conclusions in its orders denying Walker's motion to dismiss and her subsequent motion to reconsider. Thus, the record is sufficient for this Court to conduct a de novo review of the application of the Barker factors to Walker's speedy-trial claim.²

III. Analysis

An accused's right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution³ and by Art. I, § 6, of the Alabama Constitution, 1901.⁴ As noted, an evaluation of an accused's speedy-trial claim requires us to balance the four factors the United States Supreme Court set forth in Barker: "[l]ength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of [her] right, and prejudice to the defendant." 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182 (footnote omitted). See also Ex parte Carrell, 565 So.2d at 105. "A single factor is not necessarily determinative, because this is a `balancing test, in which the conduct of both the prosecution and the defense are weighed.'" Ex parte Clopton, 656 So.2d at 1245 (quoting Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182). We examine each factor in turn.

A. Length of Delay

In Doggett v. United States, the United States Supreme Court explained that the first factor — length of delay — "is actually a double enquiry." 505 U.S. 647, 651, 112 S.Ct. 2686, 120 L.Ed.2d 520 (1992). The first inquiry under this factor is whether the length of the delay is "`presumptively prejudicial.'" 505 U.S. at 652, 112 S.Ct. 2686 (quoting Barker, 407 U.S. at 530-31, 92 S.Ct. 2182).<sup>5</sup> A finding that the length of delay is presumptively prejudicial "triggers" an examination of the remaining three Barker factors. 505 U.S. at 652 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 2686 ("[A]s the term is used in this threshold context, `presumptive prejudice' does not necessarily indicate a statistical probability of prejudice; it simply marks the point at which courts deem the delay unreasonable enough to trigger the Barker enquiry."). See also Roberson v. State, 864 So.2d 379, 394 (Ala.Crim.App. 2002).

In Alabama, "[t]he length of delay is measured from the date of the indictment or the date of the issuance of an arrest warrant — whichever is earlier — to the date of the trial." Roberson, 864 So.2d at 394. Cf. § 15-3-7, Ala.Code 1975 ("A prosecution may be commenced within the meaning of this chapter by finding an indictment, the issuing of a warrant or by binding over the offender."); Rule 2.1, Ala. R.Crim. P. ("All criminal proceedings shall be commenced either by indictment or by complaint."). The length of the delay in this case was approximately 50 months: Walker was indicted on January 14, 2000, and she pleaded guilty on March 25, 2004. See Carrell, 565 So.2d at 107 (calculating the length of delay from defendant's indictment until his plea of guilty). The State concedes (and both the trial court and the Court of Criminal Appeals held) that the 50-month delay in Walker's case was presumptively prejudicial.⁶ A finding here of presumptive prejudice is supported by Alabama caselaw, see, e.g., Ex parte Taylor, 720 So.2d 1054, 1057 (Ala.Crim App.1998) (more than 60-month delay); Benefield v. State, 726 So.2d 286, 290 (Ala. Crim.App.1997) (42-month delay); Mansel v. State, 716 So.2d 234, 236 (Ala.Crim.App. 1997) (26-month delay); Ingram v. State, 629 So.2d 800, 802 (Ala.Crim.App.1993) (19-month delay); Beaver v. State, 455 So.2d 253, 254 (Ala.Crim.App.1984) (16-month delay); Broadnax v. State, 455 So.2d 205, 206-07 (Ala.Crim.App.1984) (more than 26-month delay); but see Ex parte Apicella, 809 So.2d 865, 869 (Ala. 2001)(14-month delay not presumptively prejudicial); Campbell v. State, 709 So.2d 1329, 1334 (Ala.Crim.App.1997) (26-month delay not presumptively prejudicial); and by federal cases that generally hold that a delay of approximately one year or more is presumptively prejudicial, see Doggett, 505 U.S. at 652 n. 1, 112 S.Ct. 2686 ("Depending on the nature of the charges, the lower courts have generally found postaccusation delay `presumptively prejudicial' at least as it approaches one year.") (citing 2 W. LaFave & J. Israel, Criminal Procedure § 18.2, p. 405 (1984); Gregory P.N. Joseph, Speedy Trial Rights in Application, 48 Fordham L.Rev. 611, 623 n. 71 (1980) (citing cases)).

Thus, because the length of delay in...