Hills v. Westminster Mun. Court, 09SC340.

• Decision Date: 10 January 2011
• Docket Number: No. 09SC340.,09SC340.
• Citation: 245 P.3d 947
• Parties: Corey HILLS, Petitioner v. WESTMINSTER MUNICIPAL COURT and Honorable Paul D. Basso, Judge, Respondents.
• Court: Colorado Supreme Court

245 P.3d 947 Corey HILLS, Petitioner v. WESTMINSTER MUNICIPAL COURT and Honorable Paul D. Basso, Judge, Respondents. No. 09SC340. Supreme Court of Colorado. Jan. 10, 2011.

Michael D. Brown, Arvada, Colorado, Attorney for Petitioner.

Martin R. McCullough, Westminster City Attorney, Jarod Balson, Westminster Assistant Prosecuting Attorney, Westminster, Colorado, Attorneys for Respondents.

Justice EID delivered the Opinion of the Court.

In this case we address whether charges against the defendant must be dismissed when the trial court continues the trial on its own motion due to docket congestion and offers a new trial date within the statutory speedy trial deadline, but defense counsel rejects the proffered date because of a scheduling conflict, resulting in a trial date beyond the deadline. The court of appeals found that defense counsel's scheduling conflict was attributable to the defendant and that therefore the delay was to be excluded from the speedy trial calculation, making the ultimate trial date timely. Hills v. Westminster Mun. Court, 215 P.3d 1221, 1224 (Colo.App.2009).

We now affirm the court of appeals. We hold that when a trial court continues a case due to docket congestion but makes a reasonable effort to reschedule within the speedy trial period, and defense counsel's scheduling conflict does not permit a new date within the speedy trial deadline, the resulting delay will be attributable to the defendant, and the period of delay will be excludable from time calculations for the purposes of the applicable speedy trial provision. Accordingly, it is not necessary in this case to dismiss the charges against the defendant on speedy trial grounds.

I.

On January 20, 2007, the City of Westminster ("the City") charged the petitioner, Corey Hills, with battery and criminal mischief under the Westminster Municipal Code. An additional charge of false imprisonment was subsequently added. The Westminster Municipal Court set a trial date for February 27, 2007. Upon Hills's request for a jury trial, the original trial date was vacated, and a new trial was set for March 9, 2007. An attorney entered an appearance on behalf of Hills two days before trial, and the court reset the trial date for March 23, 2007. At a pretrial conference two days before that scheduled trial date, a dispute arose over pretrial discovery. The municipal court again reset the trial, this time for April 13, 2007.

The City then filed a motion to disqualify Hills's attorney, alleging a conflict of interest. On April 11, two days before the scheduled trial date, Hills's attorney withdrew, and a new attorney entered an appearance. Hills's new counsel, however, was not available on the trial date, April 13. The municipal court offered five other trial dates in April and May. Hills's former counsel declined all five dates on behalf of Hills's new counsel and offered four alternate dates: June 1, 8, 15, and 22. The trial was scheduled for June 8, 2007.

On June 8, Hills's counsel filed a motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds. The municipal court found that the entry of appearance on April 11 functioned as a motion for a continuance, resetting the applicable ninety-day speedy trial period and making the new expiration date July 10.¹ The court then continued the case on its own motion, as it had two other trials on that day, June 8. It offered July 6, a date within the speedy trial deadline, as a new trial date. Hills's counsel stated that he was not available on that date but that he could appear on July 13 or July 27, both of which fell after the expiration of the speedy trial period. The municipal court's next available date was August 3, 2007. Hills's counsel accepted that date but preserved a speedy trial objection.

On July 5, Hills filed a petition in Adams County District Court seeking dismissal with prejudice under Rule 106 of the Colorado Rules of Civil Procedure.² He claimed that the Westminster Municipal Court had violated his speedy trial right under the applicable provision, Colorado Municipal Court Rules of Procedure 248(b) (hereinafter "C.M.C.R."), which imposes a ninety-day speedy trial deadline:

If the trial of a defendant is delayed more than ninety days after the arraignment of the defendant, or unless the delay is occasioned by the action or request of the defendant, the court shall dismiss the case and the defendant shall not thereafter be tried for the same offense....

The district court found that the municipal court's own continuance on June 8 pushed the trial date past the expiration of the speedy trial period. The district court concluded that, because the municipal court's own docket congestion was responsible for the untimely trial date, Hills's statutory right to a speedy trial had been violated. The district court remanded the case for dismissal of charges.

The court of appeals reversed the district court. Because Hills's motion focused on the period after the trial court's continuance, rather than on the earlier delays, the court limited its discussion to this final period. Looking to cases discussing Crim. P. 48(b) and section 18-1-405, C.R.S. (2010), which have speedy trial requirements similar to those of C.M.C.R. 248(b), the court of appeals concluded that the final delay—from June 8 until the later trial date—was "due to an 'action or request of the defendant,' " making a dismissal of the charges inappropriate. Hills, 215 P.3d at 1224.

The court of appeals found that when a trial court continues the trial on its own motion but offers a new trial date within the speedy trial period, and defense counsel rejects that date because of his own scheduling conflicts and instead proposes a date outside the speedy trial period, "the delay is attributable to the defendant" and excluded from the speedy trial calculation. Id. at 1225. The court remanded the case and ordered that the charges be reinstated against Hills. Judge Gabriel dissented, finding that the delay was attributable to the court's docket congestion, rather than the defendant, because, after continuing the case on its own motion, the court offered only one date within the speedy trial deadline. Id. at 1226 (Gabriel, J., dissenting). Judge Gabriel would have dismissed the charges against the defendant. Id. at 1229.

Hills sought certiorari.³ We now affirm the court of appeals and hold that when a trial court continues a case due to docket congestion but makes a reasonable effort to reschedule within the speedy trial period,and defense counsel's scheduling conflict does not permit a new date within the speedy trial deadline, the resulting delay will be attributable to the defendant, and the period of delay will be excludable from time calculations for the purposes of the applicable speedy trial provision. Therefore, it is not necessary to dismiss the charges against Hills on speedy trial grounds.

II.

The trial in this case was set beyond the ninety-day speedy trial period established by C.M.C.R. 248(b). Under C.M.C.R. 248(b), charges against the defendant must be dismissed "[i]f the trial of a defendant is delayed more than ninety days after the arraignment of the defendant ... unless the delay is occasioned by the action or request of the defendant." C.M.C.R. 248(b) (emphasis added). Today we hold that the delay in this case was attributable to the defendant.

In addressing a motion to dismiss for failure to afford a speedy trial that complies with a statutory mandate, a court must conduct a factual analysis on a case-by-case basis. See, e.g., People v. Arledge, 938 P.2d 160, 165 (Colo.1997) (discussing section 18-1-405, C.R.S (1986 & 1996 Supp.) and finding that "[t]o whom the trial delay beyond the speedy trial date is properly chargeable is an 'ad hoc inquiry.' " (quoting People v. Scales, 763 P.2d 1045, 1048 (Colo.1988)) (emphasis in original)). In addressing the trial court's role, we look to whether its actions with regard to the applicable speedy trial provision were reasonable under the facts of the case before it. See, e.g., People ex rel. Gallagher v. District Court, 933 P.2d 583, 592 (Colo.1997) (holding dismissal of charges necessary when trial court's unreasonable refusal to try to appoint defense counsel who could appear within the speedy trial period caused the delay); Arledge, 938 P.2d at 167 (finding that recused trial judge acted inappropriately when he obtained a speedy trial waiver instead of immediately dispatching the case for reassignment).

The primary goal of speedy trial provisions is to ensure that the court and the prosecutor act in a timely fashion. People v. Bates, 155 Colo. 277, 280-81, 394 P.2d 134, 136 (1964). Ultimately, speedy trial provisions help "secure and effectuate an accused's constitutional right to a speedy trial." People v. McMurtry, 122 P.3d 237, 242 (Colo.2005) (internal citation omitted). The policy of preventing undue delay that underlies speedy trial provisions must be balanced against a " 'countervailing interest in effective enforcement of criminal laws.' " Arledge, 938 P.2d at 165 (quoting People v. Sanchez, 649 P.2d 1049, 1052 (Colo.1982)). The trial court and prosecuting attorney are responsible for ensuring that a case is brought within statutory speedy trial time limits. See People v. Colantonio, 196 Colo. 242, 244, 583 P.2d 919, 921 (1978); see also People v. Roberts, 146 P.3d 589, 593 (Colo.2006) ("The burden of compliance with the speedy trial statute is on the district attorney and the trial court." (internal citations omitted)).⁴

Delays attributable to the court or the prosecutor that result in a trial date that falls past the applicable speedy trial deadline require the dismissal of charges against the defendant. C.M.C.R. 248(b). Such delays may include, for example, delays resulting from a prosecutor's lack of diligence, a court's congested docket, a court's refusal to set trial within the speedy trial period after granting prosecutor's motion for continuance, a court's refusal to timely...