U.S. v. Woolfolk

• Decision Date: 02 March 2005
• Docket Number: No. 04-4260.,04-4260.
• Citation: 399 F.3d 590
• Parties: UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Curtis Delmont WOOLFOLK, Defendant-Appellant.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Fourth Circuit

399 F.3d 590

UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. Curtis Delmont WOOLFOLK, Defendant-Appellant.

No. 04-4260.

United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.

Argued: December 3, 2004.

Decided: March 2, 2005.

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ARGUED:

Roy David Bradley, Madison, Virginia, for Appellant. William Frederick Gould, Assistant United States Attorney, Office of the United States Attorney, Charlottesville, Virginia, for Appellee.

ON BRIEF:

John L. Brownlee, United States Attorney, Roanoke, Virginia, for Appellee.

Before WILLIAMS and MICHAEL, Circuit Judges, and FLOYD, United States District Judge for the District of South Carolina, sitting by designation.

Remanded by published opinion. Judge WILLIAMS wrote the opinion, in which Judge FLOYD concurred. Judge MICHAEL wrote a separate opinion concurring in the judgment and concurring in part.

OPINION

WILLIAMS, Circuit Judge.

Curtis Delmont Woolfolk pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute more than five grams of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1) (West 1999), while reserving the right to challenge his prosecution as violating the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161(b) (West 2000) and his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The district court rejected both of Woolfolk's claims, and, for the following reasons, we remand the case to the district court for further proceedings. We remand for further consideration of whether Woolfolk was subject to "any restraint resulting from federal action" that triggered the Speedy Trial Act's provisions. United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d, 302, 305 (4th Cir.1987). Because of the factual uncertainty regarding Woolfolk's detention, we also remand the case for a full consideration of Woolfolk's Sixth Amendment claim under Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 92 S.Ct. 2182, 33 L.Ed.2d 101 (1972).

I.

On December 15, 2002, Detective David Harris was assigned to a sobriety checkpoint in downtown Charlottesville, Virginia. At approximately 2 a.m., a 1991 Lincoln approached the checkpoint and turned into another lane in an effort to avoid it. Detective Harris began a pursuit of the vehicle and effected a stop. Harris approached the car and observed that the driver of the vehicle, Woolfolk, appeared to be intoxicated. Harris also had personal knowledge that Woolfolk was involved in drug activities. During the traffic stop, several Charlottesville residents who had been standing nearby watching the stop approached Woolfolk's vehicle and attempted to gain entry. Harris heard Woolfolk tell one such individual that "it[']s between the seats." (J.A. at 6.) Woolfolk was arrested for driving under the influence. Following the arrest, Harris performed a search of the vehicle and found eight grams of crack cocaine in the center console.¹

On December 18, 2002, the United States (the Government) filed a criminal complaint against Woolfolk in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia, alleging that Woolfolk knowingly possessed with intent to distribute five grams or more of crack cocaine, in violation of 21 U.S.C.A. § 841(a)(1). An arrest warrant for Woolfolk was issued on the same date. At the time, Woolfolk was in the custody of Virginia authorities pending trial on state charges stemming from the December 15 arrest.² On January 9, 2003, the Government issued a federal detainer to the state authorities. The detainer specified that a federal arrest warrant had been issued against Woolfolk. The detainer also requested that "[p]rior to the subject's release from your custody, please notify this office at once so that we may assume custody if necessary." (J.A. at 13.) The detainer also was to be served on Woolfolk, but he contends that he received the warrant but not the detainer.

Although Woolfolk's state proceedings were terminated on April 10, 2003, Woolfolk was not released by the state authorities at that time.³ The record contains no evidence as to why the state continued to detain Woolfolk after April 10. At a hearing before the district court on Woolfolk's motion to dismiss, Woolfolk contended that, after April 10, "there can be no other interpretation" of the record but that Woolfolk was being held only because of the federal detainer. (J.A. at 22.) The district court responded, "[t]hat seems to be conceded, that the only thing keeping him in jail was a federal detainer." (J.A. at 22.) Woolfolk answered that question in the affirmative, and the Government did not respond. On appeal, however, the Government contends that Virginia failed, as an administrative matter, properly to process the termination of Woolfolk's state charges and therefore was holding him on the dismissed state charges instead of the federal detainer.

Although it remains unclear why Woolfolk remained in state custody, at some point, apparently after Woolfolk filed a state habeas claim, the Government became aware that Woolfolk was still in state custody even though no proceedings remained against him in the state system. At oral argument before the district court, the Government asserted that "[w]hen [Woolfolk's] situation was brought to [the Government's] attention, [it] brought him over federally and executed the complaint." (J.A. at 21.) This action occurred on July 10, 2003, when the Government executed its December 18 arrest warrant and brought Woolfolk before a magistrate judge for his initial appearance. On August 7, the federal grand jury indicted Woolfolk on one count of violating § 841(a)(1).

On August 22, Woolfolk filed a motion to dismiss the indictment, alleging that the delay between the filing of the complaint and arrest warrant and serving of the detainer and the indictment violated the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161(b), and his Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy trial. The district court heard arguments on the dismissal motion and, on October 2, 2003, issued an order denying it. Woolfolk subsequently entered a conditional guilty plea, which reserved his right to appeal the district court's denial of the dismissal motion. Woolfolk was sentenced to sixty months imprisonment on March 12, 2004, and filed a timely appeal on March 18. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C.A. § 1291 (West 1999).

II.

On appeal, Woolfolk contends that the Government's delay in indicting him violated both the Speedy Trial Act and the Sixth Amendment and that accordingly, the district court erred in failing to grant his motion to dismiss. We address each argument in turn.

A. Speedy Trial Act

We review the district court's factual findings on a motion to dismiss an indictment for clear error, but we review its legal conclusions de novo. United States v. Good, 326 F.3d 589, 591 (4th Cir.2003). The Speedy Trial Act provides, in relevant part, that "[a]ny information or indictment charging an individual with the commission of an offense shall be filed within thirty days from the date on which such individual was arrested or served with a summons in connection with such offense."⁴ 18 U.S.C.A. § 3161(b). If the Government fails to comply with this requirement, the "complaint shall be dismissed or otherwise dropped." 18 U.S.C.A. § 3162(a)(1). We have interpreted this language to provide that the Government must charge a defendant by indictment or information within 30 days of his "federal arrest upon a federal charge" or face the prospect of dismissal. United States v. Thomas, 55 F.3d 144, 148 (4th Cir.1995) (quoting United States v. Lee, 818 F.2d 302, 305 (4th Cir.1987)). The Act "is intended to mandate an orderly and expeditious procedure for federal criminal prosecutions by fixing specific, mechanical time limits within which the various progressions in the prosecution must occur." United States v. Iaquinta, 674 F.2d 260, 264 (4th Cir.1982).

On appeal, Woolfolk argues that the provisions of the Speedy Trial Act were triggered on January 9, when the Government lodged a detainer against him with the state because, on that date, the Government had issued a complaint, served an arrest warrant, and lodged a detainer with the state. In the alternative, Woolfolk contends that the Act's 30 day time limit began on April 10, when the state concluded its prosecution but continued holding him, allegedly because of the federal detainer. The Government counters that Woolfolk was not subject to "federal arrest" or "federal custody on a federal charge," see Thomas, 55 F.3d at 148, until July 10, when the magistrate judge issued the temporary detention order. With July 10 as the starting date, the Government notes, the August 7 indictment complies with the dictates of the Act.⁵

Woolfolk's contention that the protections of the Speedy Trial Act were triggered on January 9 is foreclosed by our holding in Thomas. In Thomas, state authorities were detaining the defendant on state charges when the Government filed a criminal complaint, secured an arrest warrant, and lodged the arrest warrant as a detainer with the state authorities. Id. at 147. Thomas remained in the custody of state authorities facing state charges for more than two years. Id. The state authorities concluded their prosecution, and the Government indicted Thomas within thirty days of the termination of the state prosecution. Id. We rejected Thomas's argument that the complaint, warrant and detainer activated the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, finding that, when an individual is lawfully being held to answer to state charges, a "criminal complaint coupled with an unexecuted arrest warrant and a federal detainer" do not trigger the Act. Thomas, 55 F.3d at 148. See also Lee, 818 F.2d at 303 (finding that the Act requires a federal arrest upon a federal charge and rejecting defendant's argument that filing of complaint, arrest warrant and detainer on individual being held in state custody on state charges constituted a federal arrest on a federal charge).⁶ Accordingly, under the binding precedent of Thomas, the Government's filing...