State v. Jones

• Decision Date: 26 July 2005
• Docket Number: No. 05-04-00819-CR.,05-04-00819-CR.
• Parties: The STATE of Texas, Appellant, v. David Wayne JONES, Appellee.
• Court: Texas Supreme Court

168 S.W.3d 339

The STATE of Texas, Appellant, v. David Wayne JONES, Appellee.

No. 05-04-00819-CR.

Court of Appeals of Texas, Dallas.

July 26, 2005.

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William T. (Bill) Hill, Jr., John Henry Stone, Asst. Dist. Atty., Dallas, and Katharine K. Decker, Asst. Dist. Atty., McKinney, for State.

Thomas G. Pappas, Burleson Pate & Gibson, LLP, Dallas, for Appellee.

Before Justices BRIDGES, FRANCIS, and LAGARDE¹.

OPINION

Opinion by Justice SUE LAGARDE(Retired).

In this State's appeal, we must decide whether the trial judge reversibly erred in granting appellee David Wayne Jones's motion to dismiss for failure to provide him a constitutional speedy trial. Applying the appropriate standards, we conclude the trial court reversibly erred. Accordingly, we reverse the trial court's order of dismissal with prejudice and remand this case to the trial court with instructions to reinstate the indictment.

Factual & Procedural Background

In October 1999, the sexual assault offense alleged in this case was reported to the Dallas County District Attorney's Office (DA) by the complainant's mother. Appellee was not arrested pre-indictment, and the State conducted a two-year investigation before seeking an indictment. That investigation included a personal interview by an investigator from the DA's office with appellee at the Texas Department of Criminal Justice, Institutional Division (TDCJ-ID), where appellee was serving a sentence on another Dallas County sexual assault conviction.

On November 28, 2001, the Dallas County grand jury indicted appellee for the offense of aggravated sexual assault of a child younger than fourteen years. See TEX. PEN.CODE ANN. § 22.021 (Vernon Supp.2004-05). The offense was alleged to have occurred on or about September 1, 1990. A "capias/warrant of arrest" was issued on the same date the indictment was returned against appellee and "came to hand" of the Dallas County Sheriff on November 30, 2001. At all relevant times, the State knew appellee was confined in the TDCJ-ID. "Right around . . . the end of July," and "[c]ertainly no earlier than July 25th, 2003," appellee learned from his civil commitment lawyer of the indictment in this case. After learning of the indictment, appellee immediately contacted his mother and asked her to contact his attorney to bring him back to Dallas County to resolve the case. The Sheriff did not execute the arrest warrant until August 7, 2003, when appellee was brought from the TDCJ-ID and placed in the Dallas County Jail.

In September 2003, through his attorney, appellee filed a motion to dismiss, asserting the statute of limitations had run.² The court conducted a hearing on the motion and, on January 20, 2004, denied the motion. The case was set for trial on June 7, 2004. On May 26, 2004, appellee filed a second motion to dismiss, this time asserting as grounds a violation of his right to a speedy trial under both the federal and state constitutions. See U.S. CONST. AMEND. VI; TEX. CONST. art. 1, § 10.³ Appellee alleged in the motion to dismiss that "[o]ver ten years have elapsed between the alleged conduct and indictment date. Over one year and eight months has [sic] elapsed since the Defendant received notice of the indictment. Neither Defendant nor defense counsel has committed [any] act or omission contributing to these delays." Appellee further asserted he had been in the continuous custody of either the Dallas County Sheriff's Office or TDCJ-ID since June 11, 1991, and the allegations underlying the indictment were known to both the Dallas Police Department (DPD), the investigating agency which brought the original charges, and the DA's Office. Appellee further asserted the DPD was apprised of the existence of this charge in 1994 and that "Howard Blackmon of the Dallas County District Attorney's Office was appraised [sic] in 1999." Appellee alleged the DA's conduct was "too transparent to be anything but a bad faith attempt to violate the plea agreement and lengthen the Defendant's incarceration." Appellee further claimed his "loss of ability to defend . . . occurred through the loss of witnesses, the dimming of witnesses' memories, and physical changes to the place of the alleged event."

On June 3, 2004, the court held a hearing on the motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds. The trial judge heard testimony from the prosecutor, the court coordinator for the 195th Judicial District Court, and appellee, as well as arguments of both counsel. Insofar as appellee's assertion of bad faith by the prosecutor is concerned, the trial court stated on the record there was no evidence presented whatsoever of any nefarious plot by the DA's office.⁴ However, the judge went on to hold that the State's excuse of a heavy case load did not justify the failure to inform appellee of the indictment, and he stated his reasons in the record. The trial judge filed findings of fact⁵ and conclusions of law.⁶ Based on the evidence presented and his explicit fact findings, the trial court concluded the prosecutor's failure to notify appellee of the indictment and to provide him a speedy trial impaired appellee's ability to prepare a defense. Thus, the court concluded the only remedy was dismissal of the charge. The trial court dismissed appellee's case with prejudice. It is from this dismissal order the State appeals.

Standard of Appellate Review

An appellate court is required to apply a bifurcated standard of review: an "abuse of discretion" standard to the trial court's factual findings and a de novo standard of review to the trial court's legal conclusions. See State v. Munoz, 991 S.W.2d 818, 821 (Tex.Crim.App.1999) (citing Guzman v. State, 955 S.W.2d 85, 89 (Tex.Crim.App.1997)) (appellate courts should afford almost total deference to a trial court's determination of the historical facts that are supported by the record); Johnson v. State, 954 S.W.2d 770, 771 (Tex.Crim.App.1997) (appellate courts conduct de novo review by independently weighing and balancing the four Barker factors⁷). Our review must be done in light of the arguments, information, and evidence that was available to the trial court at the time it ruled. See Dragoo v. State, 96 S.W.3d 308, 313 (Tex.Crim.App. 2003). We must uphold the trial court's ruling if it is supported by the record and is correct under the applicable law. See Munoz, 991 S.W.2d at 821.

We must defer to the trial judge's fact findings that are supported by the record. See id. The State has not challenged any of the fact findings on appeal. Essentially the facts are undisputed. We, therefore, review de novo and independently weigh and balance the Barker factors to determine the legal significance of the relevant facts to appellee's claim his speedy trial right was violated.

Right to Speedy Trial

The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, in relevant part, that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy . . . trial." U.S. CONST. AMEND. VI (emphasis added); Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 515, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972). This right was made applicable to the states by the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. U.S. CONST. AMEND. XIV; Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223, 87 S.Ct. 988, 18 L.Ed.2d 1 (1967).

The Texas Constitution likewise provides that "[i]n all criminal prosecutions the accused shall have a speedy . . . trial." TEX. CONST. art. 1, § 10 (emphasis added). The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals has traditionally analyzed state constitutional claims of the denial of a speedy trial under the factors established in Barker. See Zamorano v. State, 84 S.W.3d 643, 648 (Tex. Crim.App.2002). If an accused's speedy trial right is violated, the proper remedy is dismissal of the prosecution with prejudice. Shaw v. State, 117 S.W.3d 883, 888 (Tex. Crim.App.2003) (citing Strunk v. United States, 412 U.S. 434, 440, 93 S.Ct. 2260, 37 L.Ed.2d 56 (1973) and Hull v. State, 699 S.W.2d 220, 224 (Tex.Crim.App.1985)).

In determining whether one has been denied his federal or state right to a speedy trial, a court must use a balancing test to weigh the conduct of both the State and the defendant. See id. at 887 (citing Barker, 407 U.S. at 530, 92 S.Ct. 2182). The relevant factors to be weighed include, but are not necessarily limited to, the length of the delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant's assertion of his speedy trial right, and any prejudice to the defendant resulting from the delay. Id. at 888-89.

Analysis

Before we turn to our independent review, however, we summarize the relevant dates and time periods involved. The offense was alleged to have occurred on September 1, 1990. The DA's office became aware of the alleged offense in October 1999. Appellee was indicted on November 28, 2001. A capias/warrant of arrest was delivered to the Dallas County Sheriff's Office on November 30, 2001. Appellee's civil commitment attorney informed appellee of the indictment near the end of July 2003.⁸ The arrest warrant was executed on August 7, 2003. In September 2003, appellee filed a motion to dismiss asserting limitations. The motion was denied following a January 2004 hearing, and the case was set for trial on June 7, 2004. On May 26, 2004, appellee filed a second motion to dismiss, asserting violation of his speedy trial rights under both the federal and state constitutions. On June 3, 2004, the judge held a hearing on the second motion to dismiss and signed a written order granting the motion. On June 9, 2004, the judge entered written findings of fact and conclusions of law.

We turn now to our de novo review and independent weighing and balancing of the relevant Barker factors. In our review, we are mindful that under the plain language of both the federal and state constitutions, the speedy trial right applies only to an accused.

A. Length of the Delay

The length of the delay...