State v. Jefferies, 57528

• Decision Date: 14 January 1974
• Docket Number: No. 57528,No. 2,57528,2
• Citation: 504 S.W.2d 6
• Parties: STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Martin Darrell JEFFERIES, Appellant
• Court: Missouri Supreme Court

Page 6

504 S.W.2d 6

STATE of Missouri, Respondent, v. Martin Darrell JEFFERIES, Appellant.

No. 57528.

Supreme Court of Missouri, Division No. 2.

Jan. 14, 1974.

John C. Danforth, Atty. Gen., G. Michael O'Neal, Asst. Atty. Gen., Jefferson City, for respondent.

Douglas E. Long, Jr., Cohn & Long, Waynesville, for appellant.

HOUSER, Commissioner.

On November 22, 1971 Martin Darrell Jefferies filed a notice of appeal to this Court from a judgment and sentence entered on a jury verdict finding him guilty of robbery in the first degree with a dangerous and deadly weapon and sentencing him to 5 years' imprisonment.

There is no contention that the State's evidence is insufficient to support the verdict and appellant raises no other point requiring a statement of the facts.

Appellant's sole point is that he was deprived of and denied the services of counsel of his own choosing in violation of the Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States and Art. I, §§ 14 and 18(a) V.A.M.S. of the Constitution of Missouri, 1945, and that as a result the trial court 'lost jurisdiction' over appellant. Appellant makes the subsidiary argument that the court erred in refusing an oral motion for a continuance to obtain time to obtain counsel of appellant's own choosing.

The magistrate judge appointed a lawyer to represent Jefferies on December 20, 1970. This lawyer represented him at the preliminary hearing, at the trial in the circuit court, and on this appeal. Jefferies was confined to jail after he was bound over at the preliminary hearing, which was held approximately February 1, 1971.

A person accused of a felony has a constitutional right to have a fair and reasonable opportunity to secure counsel of his own choosing, but the accused in a criminal proceeding has no absolute right to be represented by counsel of his own choosing. 'The constitutional right to counsel does not mean that an accused is entitled to any particular attorney, * * *.' State v. Williams, 419 S.W.2d 49, 54 (Mo.1967), quoted with approval in Evans v. State, 467 S.W.2d 920, 923(3) (Mo.1971). The right is limited to the extent that it impinges on the public's right to effective and efficient administration of justice, and the rights of other defendants in criminal cases to have their cases tried. State v. Crider, 451 S.W.2d 825, 828 (Mo.1970).

In setting the case down for trial and requiring Jefferies to submit to trial on April 16 the circuit court did not deprive Jefferies of any constitutional right under the circumstances. The following periods have been held sufficient to meet constitutional requirements in these cases: 5 days, Ungar v. Sarafite, 376 U.S. 575, 84 S.Ct. 841, 11 L.Ed.2d 921 (1964); 2 1/2 months, United States ex rel. Carey v. Rundle, 409 F.2d 1210 (3rd Cir. 1969), cert. den. 397 U.S. 946, 90 S.Ct. 964, 25 L.Ed.2d 127; 48 hours, United States v. Terry, 449 F.2d 727 (5th Cir. 1971); 3 months, United States v. Leach, 429 F.2d 956 (8th Cir. 1970), cert. den. 402 U.S. 986, 91 S.Ct. 1675, 29 L.Ed.2d 151; 66 days, State v. Crider, supra. Jefferies had 105 days (from December 30, 1970 to April 16, 1971) within which to choose and employ counsel of his own choosing. He was thus afforded a fair and reasonable opportunity to exercise this right.

There was no error in denying the oral motion for a continuance to obtain further time to attempt to obtain the services of counsel of Jefferies'...