In re Thomas J.

• Decision Date: 02 June 2000
• Docket Number: No. 1032,1032
• Citation: 752 A.2d 699,132 Md. App. 396
• Parties: In re THOMAS J.
• Court: Court of Special Appeals of Maryland

752 A.2d 699

132 Md. App. 396

In re THOMAS J.

No. 1032, Sept. Term, 1999.

Court of Special Appeals of Maryland.

June 2, 2000.

Geraldine K. Sweeney, Asst. Public Defender (Stephen E. Harris, Public Defender, on the brief), Baltimore, for appellant.

Mary Ann Ince, Asst. Atty. Gen. (J. Joseph Curran, Jr., Atty. Gen., Baltimore, and Jack Johnson, State's Atty. for Prince George's County, Upper Marlboro, on the brief), for appellee.

Submitted before SONNER, ADKINS, and JAMES S. GETTY (retired, specially assigned) JJ. SONNER, Judge.

The Circuit Court for Prince George's County, sitting as a juvenile court, found appellant, Thomas J., a juvenile, to be involved in the delinquent acts of attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, assault with intent to rob, assault, battery, and carrying a dangerous weapon openly with intent to injure. The court placed Thomas on unsupervised probation. On appeal, Thomas raises a single issue: Did the juvenile court err in denying appellant's motion to dismiss for violating appellant's right to a speedy trial? We find that it did and reverse the juvenile court's Disposition Order.

On January 18, 1996, the victim, a thirteen-year-old male, was at home alone and answered a knock at the door. A person wearing a gray mask "pushed his way through the door with a knife," forced the victim to the victim's bedroom, made the victim lie down, and asked for his clothes. The perpetrator sat on the victim's chest and attempted to tie his hands with a telephone cord. The victim struggled with the perpetrator and "yanked the mask off his head," at which point the victim recognized Thomas, his next door neighbor, who was fourteen years old. Thomas fled from the victim's apartment. The victim reported the incident to his aunt, who called the police. Thomas was arrested the same day, taken to the police station, questioned, and released that night to his mother, Mrs. J., who signed a form upon Thomas's release into her custody. Paragraph 2 of the form stated "that the child was released into my custody at 9:00 p.m. on 1-18-96 pending possible proceedings," and paragraph 6 of the form required Mrs. J. to "immediately notify the Clerk of the Juvenile Court at the Court House, Upper Marlboro, Maryland, of any new address for [her] or the child." ¹

On May 2, 1996, a delinquency petition was filed and, on May 8, 1996, summonses were issued for Thomas and his mother to attend an arraignment hearing on May 24, 1996. However, the J. family had moved to another home in Prince George's County three weeks after the incident. When Thomas and Mrs. J. did not appear at the hearing, the Master rescheduled it for June 21, 1996, and requested "Service on child and parent to be by Sheriff's Service." Summonses were issued on May 28, 1996, as well as on May 30, 1996. A handwritten note on the bottom of the May 30, 1996 summonses stated "Sheriff Service." On June 5, 1996, the Deputy Sheriff returned the May 30, 1996 summonses "unable to contact." The summonses issued on May 28, 1996, were returned by the Post Office stating, "moved left no address; unable to forward." It is unclear from the record whether the original summonses issued on May 8, 1996, were returned to the court.

Thomas failed to appear at the June 21, 1996 hearing. The court ordered that a "writ of [body] attachment will issue ..., no bond set" and that Thomas was "[t]o be temporarily detained at appropriate Juvenile Justice facility/appropriate detention facility pending hearing on the next regular Court date." A writ review hearing was held on September 13, 1996. Again, Thomas failed to appear. The writ of body attachment was left outstanding and a new writ review hearing was scheduled for one year later. A year later, the process repeated. A writ review hearing was held on September 9, 1997, at which Thomas failed to appear, and the writ of body attachment was left outstanding. The next writ review hearing was scheduled for one year later, when the process repeated again.²

On April 2, 1999, over three years and two months after his arrest, Thomas was served with the writ of body attachment. At the beginning of the adjudicatory hearing on May 20, 1999, Thomas's counsel made a motion to dismiss based on the denial of a speedy trial. Relying on State v. Lawless, 13 Md.App. 220, 283 A.2d 160 (1971), cert. denied, 264 Md. 749 (1972), cert. denied, 409 U.S. 855, 93 S.Ct. 192, 34 L.Ed.2d 99 (1972), the juvenile court denied the motion.³

Although the United States Supreme Court has not yet addressed whether a juvenile is entitled to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment, Maryland, as well as other jurisdictions, have held that the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial is applicable to juvenile proceedings. Berryman v. State, 94 Md.App. 414, 420, 617 A.2d 1120 (1993)(citing cases from Alaska, New York, and Iowa), cert. denied, 331 Md. 86, 626 A.2d 370 (1993). When assessing whether an appellant's right to a speedy trial has been violated, we must make an independent constitutional appraisal and balance the four factors set forth in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972):(1) length of the delay; (2) reasons for the delay; (3) appellant's assertions of his right to a speedy trial; and (4) prejudice to the appellant. Berryman, 94 Md. App. at 418, 420, 617 A.2d 1120. The Supreme Court described the first factor, length of the delay, as a "triggering mechanism" because "[u]ntil there is some delay which is presumptively prejudicial, there is no necessity for inquiry into the other factors that go into the balance." Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182.

In applying the four-pronged Barker test, we bear in mind that "[t]he considerations in the juvenile context are vastly different from those in the criminal context.... [T]he overriding goal of Maryland's juvenile statutory scheme is to rehabilitate and treat delinquent juveniles so that they become useful and productive members of society." In re Keith W., 310 Md. 99, 105-06, 527 A.2d 35 (1987). Courts in other jurisdictions that have addressed whether a juvenile's Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was violated have also evaluated the Barker factors in relation to the purposes of juvenile proceedings. See In re D.H., 666 A.2d 462, 473 (D.C.1995)

("Although the factors used in evaluating speedy trial claims for criminal defendants are instructive, for purposes of consideration of a claim of a juvenile in a delinquency proceeding, they must be considered and applied in a manner which is consistent with the goals and purposes of our juvenile system."); In the Interest of C.T.F., 316 N.W.2d 865 (Iowa 1982) (application of the Barker test for determining whether a juvenile has been denied the right to a speedy trial is appropriate, but should take into consideration the differences between adult criminal prosecutions and juvenile delinquency proceedings).

With these considerations in mind, we turn to the Barker factors.

Length of Delay

The length of delay is measured from the date of arrest or the institution of formal charges, whichever occurs first, to the date of trial. Divver v. State, 356 Md. 379, 388, 739 A.2d 71 (1999); Berryman, 94 Md.App. at 420-21, 617 A.2d 1120. Here, Thomas's right to a speedy trial was triggered on January 18, 1996, the day of his arrest. The adjudicatory hearing was held on May 20, 1999, more than three years and four months after his arrest. We find that such delay is clearly sufficient to trigger analysis of the other factors that go into the balance. This length of delay is especially egregious considering that the opportunity to rehabilitate and treat, the purpose of our juvenile justice system, was lost during some of the most formative years of Thomas's life. We will weigh this factor heavily in Thomas's favor.

Reasons for Delay

The government's reason for a delay is weighed along a continuum with different weights assigned to different reasons. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531, 92 S.Ct. 2182. For instance, deliberate attempts by the State to delay trial weigh heavily against the State. Id.; see also Divver v. State, 356 Md. at 391, 739 A.2d 71 (1999)

; Berryman, 94 Md.App. at 421,

617 A.2d 1120. A more neutral reason for delay, such as negligence or overcrowded courts, weighs less heavily against the State but is nevertheless considered against the State because the ultimate responsibility for such circumstances rests with the government rather than with the defendant. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531,

92 S.Ct. 2182; Divver, 356 Md. at 391,

739 A.2d 71. Finally, a valid reason for delay attributable to neither party, such as a missing witness, serves to justify the appropriate delay. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531,

92 S.Ct. 2182; Divver, 356 Md. at 391,

739 A.2d 71.

The State contends that "the reason for the delay was solely attributable to Thomas J. and his mother, who moved shortly after Thomas J.'s delinquent acts without providing notice of their new address." The State points to the form Mrs. J. signed on January 18, 1996, when Thomas was released into her custody, requiring immediate notification of any new address. Therefore, the State argues that this factor should weigh in its favor.

On the other hand, Thomas argues that the State was negligent in attempting to contact him because the State made only one effort to contact him at "an address that agents of the State had actual knowledge was no longer the address." He contends that his mother provided a change of address to the Post Office and the police, and gave the detective in the case information about where she worked, which remained unchanged after the move. With only minimal effort, Thomas argues, the State could have located him either by: (1) contacting his mother at work, or (2) searching the database of pupils within the Prince George's County school system in which Thomas remained after the move.⁴

In State v. Lawless, 13 Md.App. at 239, 283 A.2d 160, this Court discusse...