Lee Antonio Turner v. Commonwealth of Virginia, 68 Va. App. 72

Lee Antonio Turner was arrested and held continuously on a felony charge (assault and battery of a family member, third offense) and an ancillary misdemeanor (use of profane/threatening language over public airways).
On October 14, 2015 the juvenile and domestic relations district court found probable cause and certified the felony to the grand jury and the ancillary misdemeanor to the circuit court.
The grand jury indicted Turner on the felony on November 23, 2015; Turner filed a motion in limine that day seeking to exclude two prior convictions used as predicate offenses for the third-offense element.
A hearing on that motion was delayed by weather, then held February 8, 2016; the court took the motion under advisement and issued a letter opinion denying it on February 16, with an order entered March 11, 2016.
The trial was first formally scheduled by order on April 20, 2016 (for trial May 2); Turner objected to any trial date as violating Code § 19.2-243 (five-month statutory speedy-trial rule) and moved to dismiss.
The trial court denied dismissal, convicted Turner of the felony and the misdemeanor; on appeal the Court of Appeals affirmed the misdemeanor conviction but reversed and dismissed the felony indictment on speedy-trial grounds.

Issue	Turner’s Argument	Commonwealth’s Argument	Held
Whether the felony indictment must be dismissed because trial did not commence within five months after the district court’s probable-cause finding under Va. Code § 19.2-243	The Commonwealth failed to commence trial within the statutory five-month period; Turner never agreed to any continuance and objected when a trial date was set after the deadline	The pendency of Turner’s motion in limine tolled the speedy-trial clock because the motion necessitated resolution before trial and thus the delay should be attributed to Turner	Reversed: dismissal of felony required — no record shows Turner agreed to or caused the delay; the Commonwealth had duty to bring the case to trial within five months and failed to do so
Whether Turner preserved or argued a speedy-trial computation claim as to the ancillary misdemeanor certified to circuit court	Turner lists the misdemeanor in his appeal but provided no legal argument about when speedy-trial time begins for an ancillary misdemeanor	Commonwealth implicitly argues speedy-trial calculation is governed by statute and prior cases	Affirmed: Turner waived the argument on appeal by failing to brief the legal issues required by Rule 5A:20(e)

Stephens v. Commonwealth, 225 Va. 224 (Va. 1983) (discusses when continuance is "agreed to" and when delay may be charged to defendant)
Robbs v. Commonwealth, 252 Va. 433 (Va. 1996) (distinguishes situations where defendant’s pretrial motion did not necessitate delay and thus delay not attributable to defendant)
Moten v. Commonwealth, 7 Va. App. 438 (Va. Ct. App. 1988) (clarifies five-month statutory period equals ~152 days and Commonwealth’s duty to commence trial)
Cantwell v. Commonwealth, 2 Va. App. 606 (Va. Ct. App. 1986) (delay must be attributed to Commonwealth unless record shows defendant agreed to or caused delay)
Godfrey v. Commonwealth, 227 Va. 460 (Va. 1984) (Commonwealth has affirmative duty to implement speedy-trial guarantee; continuances must be documented)
Heath v. Commonwealth, 32 Va. App. 176 (Va. Ct. App. 2000) (burden on Commonwealth to prove delay excused under statute)