Coleman Harper Bell, appellant, was indicted, tried, and convicted in Union County, Mississippi, of false pretense by selling an automobile when he knew that it was stolen. The question before this Court is whether appellant was denied the right to a speedy trial. We hold that he was. His conviction is reversed and judgment entered here discharging the appellant.
The facts pertinent to the question of appellant’s right tо a speedy trial as guaranteed by Mississippi Constitution, Section 26 (1890) and the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of the Unitеd States, are not in dispute. The transaction giving rise to the charge of false pretense against appellant occurred on October 5, 1964. Between that time and April 1, 1965, a warrant was issued in Union County for appellant’s arrest on the charge of false pretense, and on the latter date he was аrrested by the police in Jackson, Mississippi, on a federal charge. Appellant was turned ovеr to the federal authorities and removed to the jail at Oxford in Lafayette County, Mississippi, as a federal prisoner. On June 2, 1965, appellant pleaded guilty to charges in the federal court in Oxford, Mississippi, and was sentenced to the United States Penitentiary at Leavenworth, Kansas, to which institution he was taken on June 6, 1965. On September 4, 1965, appellant was brought to the Union County jail and remained there- until October 3, 1965. No charges were made against him and no hearing was had at this time. The record is not clear as to the rеason he was in the Union County jail during this period. After October 3, 1965, appellant continued serving time in the fedеral penitentiary. At the July 1966 term of court the indictment on the charge of false pretense was
At the time of the sale of the automobile which gave rise to the charge of false pretense, appellant was in the automobile business in Union County. Appellant has been held in custody since April 1, 1965, and has not seen his business records since that date. Two of appellant’s associates, Troy Rakestraw ajnd Andy Latham, were said to have been present at the time of the transaction involving the charge of false pretense. Troy Rakestrаw was within the jurisdiction of the court at the time of the arrest of appellant in 1965 and until September 1967 but was nоt within the state and amenable to process at the time of the appellant’s trial. Andy Latham was deceased at the time of appellant’s trial in January 1968, so that neither Rakestraw nor Latham were available as witnesses.
In Jones v. State,
In the instant case the accused was аvailable for prosecution although part of the time he was in federal custody. The federal аuthorities promptly made appellant available for trial when the state followed the prоper procedure as stated above. His identity was known. The facts of the crime were known and the prosecuting authorities have given no reason for not trying appellant within a reasonable timе. When appellant was tried his records were not available, one witness was dead, and another had left the state. The state had many terms of court at which he could have been tried. We are of the opinion that the judgment of conviction must be reversed and appellant discharged.
In Cummings v. State, Miss.,
Reversed and defendant discharged.
