U.S. v. Tirasso, s. 76-1519
| Decision Date | 25 March 1976 |
| Docket Number | Nos. 76-1519,76-1571,s. 76-1519 |
| Citation | 532 F.2d 1298 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Pietro TIRASSO and Tito Lombana-Pineres, Defendants-Appellants. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit |
Before GOODWIN, SNEED and KENNEDY, Circuit Judges.
Appellants Tito Lombana-Pineres and Pietro Tirasso were indicted in the Southern District of New York on charges stemming from an alleged attempt to smuggle 20 kilograms of cocaine into the United States from Colombia. They were arrested on November 19, 1975. Subsequently a criminal complaint was issued in the District of Arizona and the New York indictment was dismissed. On January 5, 1976, a magistrate ordered the appellants' removal to the District of Arizona, where they were indicted on January 20, 1976. A superseding indictment was issued February 18, 1976, and trial was set for April 13, 1976.
Since their arrest, appellants have remained in continuous custody in lieu of $100,000 bail. Appellants' motion for release from custody on their own recognizance was denied by the district court. They appeal, arguing that the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, 18 U.S.C. § 3164, mandates their release because they have been in continuous custody for more than ninety days awaiting trial.
Appellants do not charge the government with bad faith in causing their removal to Arizona or in failing to bring them to trial immediately. The delays were necessary to gather evidence of a criminal conspiracy whose dimensions grew as the investigation proceeded, and which eventually proved to be of massive proportions. The New York arrest and indictment charged appellants only with conspiracy to undertake a single transaction involving three defendants, but the subsequent Arizona indictments alleged that appellants engaged in a series of criminal transactions involving twenty-two defendants, in ten separate states, the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, and four foreign countries. Arrest of the appellants prior to the conclusion of the investigation was necessary because they were foreign nationals, who had arrived only recently from abroad and were likely to leave the country at any time. While appellants could have been tried immediately for a portion of the conspiracy in the Southern District of New York, it was reasonable to remove them to Arizona, the hub of this far-flung conspiracy. Indeed, removal of such a case is required for the sound administration of criminal justice; the action conserved judicial resources and the resources of the defendants.
Appellants do not dispute the reasonableness of the procedures, the fact that the delay was occasioned by a lengthy investigation of a serious and massive criminal scheme, the good faith of the government, or the high probability that defendants will flee to a foreign country. But they argue that such considerations are irrelevant. They point out that the statute unconditionally mandates release from custody in all cases where the defendants have not been brought to trial within ninety days of arrest. 18 U.S.C. § 3164(c).
We are constrained to agree. The language of section 3164 is straightforward. We find no ambiguity in its interpretation. Subsection (b) provides that the trial of persons held in custody solely because they are awaiting trial must commence within ninety days following the beginning of such continuous detention. Subsection (c) provides that the failure to commence trial within the ninety day period, where such failure is not occasioned by the fault of the accused or his counsel, must result in an automatic review by the court of the conditions of release, and further that "no detainee . . . shall be held in custody pending trial after the expiration of such ninety-day period . . . ." Under the clear language of the statute the reason for delay is irrelevant, so long as it is not occasioned by the accused or his counsel.
The legislative history, moreover, makes it clear that release of the defendant from custody, and nothing less, is the sanction for delay beyond the ninety-day period. "Failure to commence the trial of a detained person under this section results in the automatic review of the terms of release by the court and, in the case of a person already under detention, release from custody." S.Rep.No.1021, 93d Cong., 2d Sess., reproduced in, 4 U.S.Code Cong. & Admin.News 7401, 7416 (1974) (emphasis added).
The government contended below that the ninety-day period has not expired,...
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