Reece v. United States, 21086.
| Decision Date | 30 October 1964 |
| Docket Number | No. 21086.,21086. |
| Parties | Walter Lucas REECE, Appellant, v. UNITED STATES of America, Appellee. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit |
Walter Lucas Reece, pro se.
H. M. Ray, U. S. Atty., Thomas G. Lilly, Asst. U. S. Atty., Oxford, Miss., for appellee.
Before HUTCHESON and BROWN, Circuit Judges, and CHRISTENBERRY, District Judge.
This is an appeal from the denial by the district court of appellant's 28 U.S. C.A. § 2255 motion to vacate and set aside his sentence and conviction. Appellant was convicted by a jury on a one-count indictment charging him with a violation of the Dyer Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 2312, and sentenced to the custody of the Attorney General for a period of three years.
Predicating his motion on the following facts, appellant urges that he was denied his right to a speedy trial guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution.
On May 21, 1962, appellant was arrested on a warrant based on a complaint, and being unable to post original and reduced bond, he was remanded to the custody of the United States Marshal for the Northern District of Mississippi. On July 19, 1962, he was indicted by the Grand Jury. He was arraigned on November 7, 1962, and with the assistance of his court-appointed counsel, whose competency is not here challenged, entered a plea of not guilty. On December 10, 1962, appellant, again represented by counsel, was tried before a jury, convicted, and on January 8, 1963, was sentenced.
The above facts are recited in the district judge's findings of fact and conclusions of law, wherein in addition the judge explains the unfortunate situation which exists in his district; that he is the only judge in the district, which serves 37 counties; that there are four divisions in the district where he must sit; that by standing order of court he sits at each of the divisions annually for two regular terms, averaging one month each; and that the terms of court in the division where appellant was held convened in the months of May and November.
The Sixth Amendment affords every defendant in a criminal case the right to a speedy trial. This right is not so absolute or unqualified that it admits of no delay. Beavers v. Haubert, 198 U.S. 77, 87, 25 S.Ct. 573, 576, 49 L.Ed. 950. It is designed to protect a defendant from purposeful and oppressive delays. Pollard v. United States, 352 U.S. 354, 361, 77 S.Ct. 481, 1 L.Ed.2d...
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Edmaiston v. Neil
...At least one Circuit has held that the speedy trial protection does not apply at all in such circumstances. Reece v. United States, 337 F.2d 852, 853 (5th Cir. 1964); United States v. Williams, 416 F.2d 4, 9 (5th Cir. 1969), cert. denied 397 U.S. 968, 90 S.Ct. 1008, 25 L.Ed.2d 262 (1970). W......
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