Salandre v. State
| Decision Date | 11 February 1991 |
| Docket Number | No. 18882,18882 |
| Citation | 1991 NMSC 16,111 N.M. 422,806 P.2d 562 |
| Parties | Louie SALANDRE, Petitioner, v. STATE of New Mexico, Respondent. |
| Court | New Mexico Supreme Court |
We granted certiorari in this "speedy trial" case because the opinion of the court of appeals implicated the allocation of burden of proof recently addressed in Zurla v. State, 109 N.M. 640, 789 P.2d 588 (1990). In Zurla we overruled that part of State v. Tartaglia, 108 N.M. 411, 773 P.2d 356 (Ct.App.), cert. denied, 108 N.M. 318, 772 P.2d 352 (1989) (Tartaglia I ), which appeared to place the burden of persuasion on the defendant to show actual prejudice resulting from delay deemed "presumptively prejudicial." See also Work v. State, 111 N.M. 145, 803 P.2d 234 (1990) (applying Zurla ). The court of appeals relied on Tartaglia I in its opinion in this case, and, after careful review of the record in light of Zurla, we conclude the court of appeals erred. We reverse.
On June 19, 1987, approximately fifteen minutes after leaving a dealership where he had bought a used motorcycle, Louie Salandre was stopped by a police officer for an alleged equipment violation. The police officer stated in her report that she instituted a search of Salandre's person and a leather tool pouch attached to the motorcycle. The officer stated she instituted the search after detecting about Salandre a strong odor that later, before a grand jury, she testified smelled "like a methamphetamine lab." In the police report she had said the odor "smelled like the white powdery substance" that she eventually found in a sealed zip lock bag contained in a grey, closed sports bag within the leather tool pouch. Subsequent testing of the white powder identified it as methamphetamine.
The search of the motorcycle also revealed drug paraphernalia and weapons. Salandre was arrested. One day later he posted a $5,000 bond and was released. The police took his motorcycle to a wrecking yard for storage. Although no police hold was placed on the motorcycle, the police did impound its title papers.
At the time of his arrest, Salandre was subject to parole restrictions for a previous conviction. Subsequent to his arrest, Salandre stopped reporting to his parole officer because he feared his parole would be revoked in light of the charges pending against him. In October 1987, after his arrest for another traffic violation, Salandre's parole was revoked.
On January 13, 1988, while still incarcerated on his parole revocation, Salandre was indicted for possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm by a felon, possession of drug paraphernalia, and unlawfully carrying concealed weapons. He was arraigned on February 1, and was released from custody on February 11, 1988. Defense counsel filed several pretrial motions on February 19, including a motion to dismiss for violation of Salandre's speedy trial and due process rights, a motion to suppress the evidence obtained in the search, a motion to test the officer's ability to smell methamphetamine "under the same conditions and circumstances in which the alleged methamphetamine in this case was found," and a motion to order the release of the title to the motorcycle and to identify the wrecking yard where it was stored.
The court granted this last motion after a hearing on April 5. That same day, the motorcycle mysteriously was stolen from the wrecking yard and left on railroad tracks where a train ran over and destroyed it. At a hearing on the speedy trial motion on May 19, Salandre claimed the loss of the motorcycle prevented him from demonstrating the pretextual nature of the traffic stop and impaired his ability to test the officer's ability to smell the methamphetamine. Specifically, he claimed the destruction of the motorcycle prevented him from showing whether it had the type of defective equipment that would be visible to the officer, and thus impaired his ability to challenge the probable cause justifying the initial traffic stop. He also claimed the officer did not have probable cause to search because she could not have smelled the methamphetamine wrapped and concealed in the leather tool pouch on the motorcycle.
Additionally, Salandre testified that, during the period when he was attempting to evade his parole officer, he stopped seeing his girl friend and generally felt unable to move about freely. He stated he hoped to resolve the charges against him before reporting back to his parole officer. He testified further that, after several months passed, he had begun to believe that he would not be indicted on the pending charges and, when asked how he felt about the charges continuing to drag on unresolved, he stated:
Salandre's parents testified their son was unable to find work during the periods before and after incarceration on the parole revocation, except for part-time work in connection with the family watch repair business. Salandre testified on cross-examination, however, that he had applied for only one position subsequent to his release on February 11, 1988. Salandre also testified that he had not held a full-time position since 1982.
Testimony also was presented that, during the same general time period when he was arrested, Salandre had collaborated with his brother and father to produce and market a new type of weapon holster. Salandre claimed that, due to the bond restrictions on his movement, he was unable to attend a number of trade shows where he hoped to make business contacts. His parents testified, however, that most of these trade shows, if not all of them, took place while he was incarcerated on the parole revocation. Salandre's parents and fiancee testified that he had been unable to attend several weddings during the time he was incarcerated.
The trial court found that the delay in prosecuting Salandre was unjustified and excessive, that Salandre had been prejudiced by the destruction of evidence, he had suffered anxiety and concern, and he had been subject to restrictions on his liberty. The court concluded that Salandre's sixth amendment right to a speedy trial had been violated and dismissed the charges against him. The State appealed and the court of appeals reversed.
In deciding whether Salandre's right to a speedy trial had been violated, the court of appeals applied the four factor test of Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2191, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972): (1) length of delay, (2) reasons for the delay, (3) assertion of the right, and (4) prejudice to the defendant. The court of appeals assumed for the sake of analysis that the eleven-month delay between Salandre's arrest and the hearing on his motion to dismiss was presumptively prejudicial. We take this opportunity to note our disapproval of the court's assumption on this point, as such an assumption may in another case result in unnecessary constitutional analysis. However, for reasons explained below we conclude that the delay in this case was presumptively prejudicial and triggered inquiry into the other Barker v. Wingo factors. We agree with the result reached by the court of appeals in weighing the first three factors in favor of Salandre, but not heavily. We disagree with the court's conclusion that the fourth factor, prejudice to the defendant, weighed against Salandre, and we disagree that on balance Salandre's right to a speedy trial was not violated.
Attachment of the speedy trial right. The parties agree that Salandre's sixth amendment right to a speedy trial was triggered by his arrest. Nevertheless, we take this opportunity to review the test, first discussed in Kilpatrick v. State, 103 N.M. 52, 53, 702 P.2d 997, 998 (1985), for determining when the speedy trial right attaches. 1
The sixth amendment directs that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." U.S. Const. amend. VI. The right to a speedy trial is implicated when the putative defendant becomes an "accused." United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1, 6, 102 S.Ct. 1497, 1501, 71 L.Ed.2d 696 (1982). The Supreme Court in United States v. Marion, 404 U.S. 307, 92 S.Ct. 455, 30 L.Ed.2d 468 (1971), examined the interests at work behind the speedy trial guarantee and, in so doing, explained the conditions under which a person becomes an accused:
Inordinate delay between arrest, indictment, and trial may impair a defendant's ability to present an effective defense. But the major evils protected against by the speedy trial guarantee exist quite apart from actual or possible prejudice to an accused's defense. To legally arrest and detain, the Government must assert probable cause to believe the arrestee has committed a crime. Arrest is a public act that may seriously interfere with the defendant's liberty, whether he is free on bail or not, and that may disrupt his employment, drain his financial resources, curtail his associations, subject him to public obloquy, and create anxiety in him, his family and his friends.... So viewed, it is readily understandable that it is either a formal indictment or information or else the actual restraints imposed by arrest and holding to answer a criminal charge that engage the particular protections of the speedy trial provision of the Sixth Amendment.
The Court went on to clarify that it would not Id. at 321, 92 S.Ct. at 463-64. ...
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