Paul v. State

• Decision Date: 09 December 2003
• Docket Number: No. 22A01-0304-CR-138.,22A01-0304-CR-138.
• Parties: Steven I. PAUL, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.
• Court: Indiana Appellate Court

799 N.E.2d 1194

Steven I. PAUL, Appellant-Defendant, v. STATE of Indiana, Appellee-Plaintiff.

No. 22A01-0304-CR-138.

Court of Appeals of Indiana.

December 9, 2003.

Rehearing Denied January 29, 2004.

Michael J. McDaniel, New Albany, IN, Attorney for Appellant.

Steve Carter, Attorney General of Indiana, Michael Gene Worden, Deputy Attorney General, Indianapolis, IN, Attorneys for Appellee.

OPINION

FRIEDLANDER, Judge.

Steven I. Paul (Paul) brings this interlocutory appeal arising from the trial court's denial of his Motion for Discharge pursuant to Ind.Crim. Rule 4(B)(1). The sole issue presented for review is, did the trial court err in sua sponte declaring an emergency and continuing and rescheduling Paul's trial date?

We affirm.

The facts favorable to the ruling demonstrate that the State charged Paul with the murder of Donald Barnett on November 6, 2002. At Paul's initial hearing on the same day, the trial court scheduled trial for January 13, 2003. On November 26, 2002, Paul filed a written motion for a speedy trial. Thereafter, Paul filed a Motion for Discovery and Production of Evidence on December 17, 2003, which the trial court granted in its entirety. A discovery order was entered to that effect. The State responded to Paul's discovery request on January 9, 2003, providing, inter alia, a list of the witnesses the State intended to call at Paul's trial, including addresses and phone numbers where available, an investigative police report, an autopsy report, as well as making available audio-taped witness interviews.

On January 10, 2003, Paul filed an Objection to Trial and Motion for Discharge. The hearing on his motion occurred the same day. Paul argued that the State's discovery responses were incomplete and tendered at the last moment so as to deprive Paul of his right to a fair trial, and that his unpreparedness for the January 13, 2003 trial was through no fault of his own. In the January 10 motion, Paul simultaneously objected to the current trial date and gave notice that he would subsequently seek discharge under Crim. Rule 4(B)(1) because the State had failed to bring him to trial within seventy days as mandated by the rule.

On January 13, 2003, after the hearing on Paul's Objection to Trial and Motion for Discharge, the trial court sua sponte issued an Order Declaring Emergency and Continuing and Rescheduling Trial Date. Of special concern to the trial court was the impact of the November 2002 general election in New Albany, Indiana on the timing of Paul's trial. Specifically, the incumbent prosecutor lost his reelection bid, and, consequently, he and his staff had only nine working days to respond to the December 17 discovery order before leaving office on December 31, 2002. No discovery was provided during that time period. The new prosecutor took office on January 1, 2003, and responded to the December 17 discovery order within seven working days—on January 9, 2003—which was also four days before trial was scheduled to begin. The trial court found that the timing of the prosecutor's transition had stymied trial preparation for both sides and that proceeding to trial would severely jeopardize Paul's constitutional rights. The trial court stated that congestion of the court's calendar was not an issue, but under the "special and unique circumstances surrounding this case, the Court concludes that an emergency exists which requires that trial of this case be continued and rescheduled within a reasonable time." Appellant's Appendix at 97. The trial court rescheduled the trial for February 25, 2003.

On January 21, 2003, Paul filed a Motion for Discharge. A hearing was held on January 24, 2003, and Paul's motion was denied. The trial court expressly found that the State had not violated the December 17 discovery order as Paul claimed, but rather had "complied with such order to the best of its ability given the facts and circumstances of this case." Appellant's Appendix at 103. The trial court also held that Paul's Objection to Trial filed on January 10, 2003, was tantamount to a motion to continue and therefore inconsistent with his request for a speedy trial, and that the cases cited by Paul to support his position were good law but inapplicable to his case.

On February 7, 2003, Paul filed his Motion to Certify Ruling for Interlocutory Appeal. On March 12, 2003, the trial court certified the interlocutory appeal, and on April 9, 2003, Paul filed his Verified Petition to Accept Interlocutory Appeal. The State filed its Notice of Non-Opposition, and on May 30, 2003, this court accepted Paul's appeal.

On interlocutory appeal, Paul contends that the State's alleged failure to provide discovery did not create an emergency preventing discharge under Crim. Rule 4(B)(1). Rather, the State's inaction required his immediate discharge because the State failed to bring him to trial within seventy days through no fault of his own. Therefore, the trial court's denial of his Motion for Discharge was clear error.

In reviewing a trial court's findings from the denial of a motion for discharge pursuant to Crim. Rule 4, we apply a clearly erroneous standard. Lowrimore v. State, 728 N.E.2d 860 (Ind.2000). We will neither reweigh the evidence nor determine the credibility of witnesses, but consider only the evidence that supports the judgment and the reasonable inferences to be drawn from that evidence. We will reverse only upon a showing of clear error, that is, that which leaves us with a definite and firm conviction that a mistake was made. Id.

A defendant's right to a speedy trial is guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution, and by Article I, § 12 of the Indiana Constitution. The provisions of Crim. Rule 4 implement a defendant's right to a speedy trial. Specifically, Crim. Rule 4(B)(1) provides:

If any defendant held in jail on an indictment or an affidavit shall move for an early trial, he shall be discharged if not brought to trial within seventy (70) calendar days from the date of such motion, except where a continuance within said period is had on his motion, or the delay is otherwise caused by his act, or where there was not sufficient time to try him during such seventy (70) calendar days because of the congestion of the court calendar. Provided, however, that in the last-mentioned circumstance, the prosecuting attorney shall file a timely motion for continuance as set forth in subdivision (A) of this rule. Provided further, that a trial court may take note of congestion or an emergency without the necessity of a motion, and upon so finding may order a continuance. Any continuance granted due to a congested calendar or emergency shall be reduced to an order, which order shall also set the case for trial within a reasonable time.

Crim. Rule 4(B)(1)'s direction to discharge is mandatory, and "nothing will prevent the rule's operation save its own exceptions." Crosby v. State, 597 N.E.2d 984, 987 (Ind.Ct.App.1992). As indicated above, the rule "excepts from the seventy-day period any time attributable to a continuance or delay by the defense, court congestion, or an emergency." Lowrimore v. State, 728 N.E.2d at 864. Moreover, and importantly, "the purpose of Crim. Rule 4 is to ensure early trials, not to allow defendants to manipulate the means designed for their protection and permit them to escape trials." McKay v. State, 714 N.E.2d 1182, 1190 (Ind.Ct.App.1999).

Regarding Crim. Rule 4(B)(1) in general, and the emergency and congestion exceptions in particular, our supreme court has stated:

Upon an incarcerated defendant's request for a speedy trial, Criminal Rule 4(B) requires particularized priority treatment. The rule is not satisfied merely by scheduling such a case for trial at the next date available for criminal cases or for cases generally. Rather, it must be assigned a meaningful trial date within the time prescribed by the rule, if necessary superseding trial dates previously designated for civil cases and even criminal cases in which Criminal Rule 4 deadlines are not imminent. We recognize, however, that emergencies in either criminal or civil matters may occasionally interfere with this scheme. Similarly, there may be major, complex trials that have long been scheduled or that pose significant extenuating circumstances to litigants and witnesses, which will, on rare occasions, justify application of the court congestion or exigent circumstances exceptions.

Clark v. State, 659 N.E.2d 548, 551-52 (Ind.1995). Therefore, Crim. Rule 4(B)(1) permits trial courts, on rare occasions, to continue trials outside of the seventy-day period due to emergency exigent circumstances without running afoul of the rule's discharge mandate.

Paul contends the trial court's denial of his Motion for Discharge made pursuant to Crim. Rule 4(B)(1) was clear error because unpreparedness due to the State's failure to provide discovery does not constitute an emergency permitting a continuance beyond the seventy-day limitation period of the rule. As an initial matter, we note the parties disagree regarding when the seventy-day period was triggered. Paul asserts that the seventy-day period began by virtue of his oral motion at the November 6, 2002 initial hearing, while the State asserts that the clock did not start running until Paul filed his written motion for a speedy trial on November 26, 2003. We decline to reach the merits of this argument. Since the State failed to raise any objection to the calculation of the trial date or the timeliness of the Motion for Discharge to the trial court, the issue is waived.

Turning to the merits of Paul's argument—that the denial of his Motion for Discharge was clear error—Paul relies on a line of authority holding that the...