United States v. Vernel Williams, 917 F.3d 195

Williams was charged (information then indictment) with firearms and assault offenses arising from a December 2013 shooting; arraigned on the indictment June 18, 2014.
District Court ordered competency evaluation and transport to FMC Butner on June 11, 2014; Williams arrived July 29, 2014.
Court found Williams incompetent on November 5–6, 2014 and committed him under §4241(d); later proceedings led to an evidentiary hearing on involuntary medication in October 2015.
Government concedes a 53-day non-excludable delay between Oct. 9, 2015 and Dec. 2, 2015; dispute centers on whether the 37 days between June 21 and July 29, 2014 (transport delay) are excludable under the Speedy Trial Act.
District Court denied Williams’s motions to dismiss (without written analysis) in Oct. 2016; Williams pleaded guilty while reserving speedy-trial appeal, was sentenced to time served; he appealed.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Williams)	Defendant's Argument (Government)	Held
Whether §3161(h)(1)(A) excludes all delay for competency proceedings even if transport delay >10 days	All delay from competency proceedings (including transport) is excludable under §3161(h)(1)(A)	§3161(h)(1)(F) limits §3161(h)(1)(A); transport delays >10 days are presumptively unreasonable/non-excludable	Held: §3161(h)(1)(F) limits §3161(h)(1)(A); transport delay beyond 10 days is presumptively non-excludable unless rebutted
Whether the 37-day transport delay (June 21–July 29, 2014) was excludable	Delay was part of competency proceedings and thus excludable	Delay was presumptively unreasonable under §3161(h)(1)(F); gov’t did not rebut presumption	Held: 37-day delay is non-excludable; gov’t failed to rebut presumption
Whether total non-excludable time exceeded 70 days under §3161(c)(1)	Contended exclusions make total <=70 days	Conceded 53-day period; argued transport delay excludable so total within 70 days	Held: Total non-excludable time = 90 days (53 + 37) → violation of Speedy Trial Act
Remedy: dismissal with or without prejudice under §3162(a)(2)	Dismiss with prejudice because defendant already served full sentence/time served	District court should decide prejudice; remediation possibly without prejudice	Held: Dismissal with prejudice ordered because Williams has served full sentence and retrial would serve no purpose

United States v. Graves, 722 F.3d 544 (3d Cir.) (defines when §3161(h)(1)(A) excludable period begins)
United States v. Vasquez, 918 F.2d 329 (2d Cir.) (held all competency-related delay excludable under §3161(h)(1)(A))
United States v. Tinklenberg, 579 F.3d 589 (6th Cir.) (held transport delays beyond 10 days presumptively unreasonable/non-excludable under §3161(h)(1)(F))
Henderson v. United States, 476 U.S. 321 (1986) (instructs reading §3161(h) subsections "in connection with" each other)
Zedner v. United States, 547 U.S. 489 (2006) (district court decides dismissal with or without prejudice in first instance)
TRW Inc. v. Andrews, 534 U.S. 19 (2001) (statutory interpretation principle avoiding superfluous language)
United States v. Carrasquillo, 667 F.2d 382 (3d Cir.) (dismissal for Speedy Trial Act violation is mandatory)