Strunk v. United States 8212 5521

• Decision Date: 11 June 1973
• Docket Number: No. 72,72
• Parties: Clarence Eugene STRUNK, Petitioner, v. UNITED STATES. —5521
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

412 U.S. 434

93 S.Ct. 2260

37 L.Ed.2d 56

Clarence Eugene STRUNK, Petitioner,

v UNITED STATES.

No. 72—5521.

Argued April 24, 1973.

Decided June 11, 1973.

Syllabus

Petitioner was convicted of a federal offense and was sentenced to a term of five years, to run concurrently with a sentence of one to three years that he was serving pursuant to a state-court conviction. Before trial, the District Court denied his motion to dismiss the federal charge on the ground that he had been denied a speedy trial. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that he had been denied a speedy trial, but that the 'extreme' remedy of dismissal of the charges was not warranted. The case was remanded to the District Court to reduce the sentence by 259 days, to compensate for the unnecessary delay that had occurred between the return of the indictment and petitioner's arraignment. The government did not file a cross-petition for certiorari challenging the finding of denial of a speedy trial. Held: In this case, the only question for review is the propriety of the remedy fashioned by the Court of Appeals. In light of the policies underlying the right to a speedy trial, dismissal must remain, as noted in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 522, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2188, 33 L.Ed.2d 101, 'the only possible remedy' for deprivation of this constitutional right. Pp. 2261—2264.

467 F.2d 969, reversed and remanded.

John R. Wideikis, Chicago, Ill., for petitioner, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court.

William Bradford Reynolds, Washington, D.C., for respondent.

Opinion of the Court by Mr. Chief Justice BURGER, announced by Mr. Justice DOUGLAS.

Petitioner was found guilty in United States District Court of transporting a stolen automobile from Wisconsin to Illinois in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 2312 and was sentenced to a term of five years. The five-year sentence was to run concurrently with a sentence of one to three years that petitioner was then serving in the Nebraska State Penitentiary pursuant to a conviction in the courts of that State.

Prior to trial, the District Court denied a motion to dismiss the federal charge, in which petitioner argued that he had been denied his right to a speedy trial. At trial petitioner called no witnesses and did not take the stand; the jury returned a verdict of guilty. The Court of Appeals reversed the District Court, holding that petitioner had in fact been denied a speedy trial. However, the court went on to hold that the 'extreme' remedy of dismissal of the charges was not warranted; the case was remanded to the District Court to reduce petitioner's sentence to the extent of 259 days in order to compensate for the unnecessary delay which had occurred between return of the indictment and petitioner's arraignment.

I

Certiorari was granted on petitioner's claim that, once a judicial determination has been made that an accused has been denied a speedy trial, the only remedy available to the court is 'to reverse the conviction, vacate the sentence, and dismiss the indictment.' No cross-petition was filed by the Government to review the determination of the Court of Appeals that the defendant had been denied a speedy trial. The Government acknowledges that, in its present posture, the case presents a novel and unresolved issue, not controlled by any prior decisions of this Court.

The Court of Appeals stated that the 10-month delay which occurred was 'unusual and call(ed) for explanation as well as justification,' 467 F.2d 969, 972. The Gov- ernment responded that petitioner had, after receiving the proper warnings, freely admitted his guilt to an FBI agent while incarcerated in the Nebraska Penitentiary, and had stated that he intended to demand a speedy trial under Fed.Rule Crim.Proc. 20. The Government claimed that it had postponed prosecution because of petitioner's reference to Rule 20, and consequently, that a large portion of the delay which ensued was attributable to petitioner. The Court of Appeals regarded this explanation as tenuous; it also rejected the lack of staff personnel in the United States Attorney's Office as a justification for the delay. The entire course of events from the time of arrest through the Court of Appeals plainly placed the Government on notice that the speedy trial issue was being preserved by the accused and would be pressed, as indeed it has been.

On this record, it seems clear that petitioner was responsible for a large part of the 10-month delay which occurred and that he neither showed nor claimed that the preparation of his defense was prejudiced by reason of the delay. It may also well be correct that the United States Attorney was understaffed due to insufficient appropriations and, consequently, was unable to provide an organization capable of dealing with the rising caseload in his office, especially with respect to criminal cases. Unintentional delays caused by overcrowded court dockets or understaffed prosecutors are among the factors to be weighed less heavily than intentional delay, calculated to hamper the defense, in determining whether the Sixth Amendment has been violated but, as we noted in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 531, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 2192, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972), they must

'nevertheless . . . be considered since the ultimate responsibility for such circumstances must rest with the government rather than with the defendant.'

This served to reaffirm what the Court held earlier in Dickey v. Florida, 398 U.S. 30, 37—38, 90 S.Ct. 1564, 1569, 26 L.Ed.2d 26 (1970):

'Although a great many accused persons seek to put off the confrontation as long as possible, the right to a prompt inquiry into criminal charges is fundamental and the duty of the charging authority is to provide a prompt trial.'¹ (Footnote omitted.)

However, in the absence of a cross-petition for certiorari, questioning the holding that petitioner was denied a speedy trial, the only question properly before us for review is the propriety of the remedy fashioned by the Court of Appeals. Whether in some circumstances, and as to some questions, the Court might deal with an issue involving constitutional claims, absent its being raised by cross-petition, we need not resolve. Suffice it that in the circumstances presented here in which the speedy trial issue has been pressed by the accused from the time of arrest forward and resolved in his favor, we are not disposed to examine the...