United States v. Butler, 7452.
| Decision Date | 23 November 1970 |
| Docket Number | No. 7452.,7452. |
| Citation | 434 F.2d 243 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Appellee, v. Patrick Vincent BUTLER, Defendant, Appellant. |
| Court | U.S. Court of Appeals — First Circuit |
Joseph T. Travaline, Somerville, Mass., by appointment of the Court, with whom Edward S. Guidoboni, Somerville, Mass., was on brief, for appellant.
Frederick W. Faerber, Jr., Asst. U. S. Atty., with whom Lincoln C. Almond, U. S. Atty., was on brief, for appellee.
Before ALDRICH, Chief Judge, McENTEE and COFFIN, Circuit Judges.
This appeal from a conviction for bank robbery was heard at our last term of court. We remanded the case for findings relative to one of defendant's contentions that a nine months delay between indictment and arraignment constituted a deprivation of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. The indictment was returned on September 27, 1968, but the defendant was not arraigned until June 17, 1969, and then only after he had written to the United States Attorney on May 24 demanding arraignment. The government offered no reason for the delay other than the fact that the defendant was already in Federal custody serving a sentence that had several years to run and therefore was not harmed by the delay.
Defendant was represented at the June 17 proceeding by a Massachusetts attorney named Travaline who entered his appearance in the case on that date. He later stated that he was not retained in connection with the case until June 14. It appeared, however, that in writing to the United States Marshal in Rhode Island on January 21, 1969, for a copy of the indictment, Travaline identified himself as attorney for the defendant. In view of the uncertainty surrounding this issue and the lack of a proper record and of findings by the district court, we remanded the case "for the purpose of finding and reporting back to us Attorney Travaline's full relationship with the defendant in this and other cases and defendant's awareness or lack of awareness of his right to a speedy trial." United States v. Butler, 426 F.2d 1275, 1279 (1st Cir. 1970).
On remand, the district court held a full evidentiary hearing at which both Travaline and the defendant testified. On the evidence adduced, the court found that Attorney Travaline had represented the defendant in at least two previous criminal cases in Massachusetts but in late December 1968 or early January 1969 informed the defendant that he would not represent him in any pending criminal cases...
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Zurla v. State
...Cir.1970) (absent good reason, delay of nine months overly long in case depending on eyewitness testimony), appeal after remand, 434 F.2d 243 (1st Cir.1970), cert. denied, 401 U.S. 978, 91 S.Ct. 1207, 28 L.Ed.2d 328 (1971). Butler was cited with approval in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. at 531,......
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