COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA v. JAYDEN ISAIAH SPEED
No. 900 WDA 2023
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA
September 11, 2024
2024 PA Super 206
OPINION BY NICHOLS, J.
J-A09040-24;
Appellant Jayden Isaiah Speed appeals from the judgment of sentence imposed after he pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, burglary, and conspiracy to commit burglary. On appeal, Appellant contends that the trial court erred in denying his motion to dismiss for lack of a prompt trial pursuant to
We adopt the trial court‘s summary of the relevant procedural history. Briefly, a criminal complaint was filed against Appellant on October 1, 2021. Trial Ct. Op., 9/8/23, at 4. On May 11, 2023, Appellant filed a motion to dismiss pursuant to
Appellant filed a timely notice of appeal. Both Appellant and the trial court complied with
Appellant raises the following issue on appeal:
Whether the trial judge committed reversable error by denying [Appellant‘s] motion to dismiss the charges or grant bail.3
Appellant‘s Brief at 4 (unpaginated).4
Issue Preservation
Before we review Appellant‘s Rule 600 speedy trial issue, we must address whether this issue was preserved for appeal. See
Generally, “upon entry of a guilty plea, a defendant waives all claims and defenses other than those sounding in
Here, the Commonwealth contends that Appellant waived his Rule 600 issue by entering a guilty plea. Commonwealth‘s Brief at 11. However, the transcript from the plea hearing reflects that Appellant and the Commonwealth disagreed on whether the terms of the plea agreement prevented Appellant from raising a Rule 600 claim on appeal. See N.T. Plea Hr‘g, 6/13/23, at 10-11.
Ultimately, after hearing argument from both sides, the trial court concluded:
The speedy trial issue was timely and properly raised before the [c]ourt. . . . [T]his plea agreement does not preclude [Appellant] from alleging error on my part if I made a mistake. . . . [O]n the singular issue of whether or not I erred in my opinion and order relating to Rule 600, that really is preserved for appeal.
Id. at 11.
After the trial court made clear that it considered Appellant‘s Rule 600 appeal rights to be preserved in his offer to plead guilty, the Commonwealth did not withdraw from its plea agreement with Appellant. Id. at 11-13. On this record, where any ambiguities are to be construed against the Commonwealth, Appellant‘s plea agreement sufficiently preserved his Rule 600 speedy trial issue for appeal. See Snook, 230 A.3d at 438; Singleton, 169 A.3d at 81-82.
Rule 600 Claim
Rule 600 provides that: “[t]rial . . . shall commence within 365 days from the date on which the complaint is filed[;]” “trial shall be deemed to commence on the date the trial judge calls the case to trial, or the defendant tenders a plea of guilty . . .[;]” and, if the Commonwealth is not ready for trial by this deadline, a defendant may file a written motion requesting that the charges be dismissed with prejudice.
Rule 600 allows for extension of the Commonwealth‘s deadline to commence trial in certain circumstances, directing that:
periods of delay at any stage of the proceedings caused by the Commonwealth when the Commonwealth has failed to exercise due diligence shall be included in the computation of the time within which trial must commence.
Any other periods of delay shall be excluded from the computation.
The Comment to Rule 600 provides in relevant part: “[w]hen the defendant or the defense has been instrumental in causing the delay, the period of delay will be excluded from [the] computation of time.”
We review challenges to a trial court‘s ruling on a Rule 600 motion bearing in mind that:
Our standard of review in evaluating speedy trial issues is whether the trial court abused its discretion, and our scope of review is limited to the trial court‘s findings and the evidence on the record, viewed in the light most favorable to the prevailing party. An abuse of discretion is not merely an error of judgment, but if in reaching a conclusion the law is overridden or misapplied, or the judgment exercised is manifestly unreasonable, or the result of partiality, prejudice, bias or ill-will . . . discretion is abused.
* * *
Rule 600 has the dual purpose of both protecting a defendant‘s constitutional speedy trial rights and protecting society‘s right to effective prosecution in criminal cases. In determining whether an accused‘s right to a speedy trial has been violated, consideration must be given to society‘s right to effective prosecution of criminal cases, both to restrain those guilty of crime and to deter those contemplating it.
Commonwealth v. Womack, 315 A.3d 1229, 1237 (Pa. 2024) (some formatting altered and citations omitted).5
Here, the Commonwealth filed a criminal complaint against Appellant on October 1, 2021; 365 calendar days thereafter was Saturday, October 1, 2022. See Criminal Complaint, 10/1/21;
Appellant requested four continuances, which the trial court granted, and these four delays constituted excludable time. See Trial. Ct. Op., 9/8/23, at 5. Additionally, on December 19, 2022, Appellant‘s counsel did not appear at a scheduled pretrial conference. See Scheduling Order, 12/7/22; Trial Ct. Order, 12/20/22, at 1-2 (unpaginated). The trial court noted in its post-conference order that, “[a]t this juncture, the Court is not aware of the cause for the absence of [Appellant‘s counsel].” Trial Ct. Order, 12/20/22, at 1. The trial court further noted:
The court, on its own motion, transfers this case to the March term of criminal court. [] No time will be chargeable against the Commonwealth under Rule 600 for the reason that this continuance has been necessitated as a consequence of the absence of [Appellant‘s counsel], who was unable to participate at the prehearing conference that was scheduled for today.
Id. at 2 (formatting altered).
At Appellant‘s Rule 600 hearing, the trial court discussed the cause of this fifth delay, stating:
Remember, then on December 1[9], 2022, we had a Pretrial Conference and defense counsel was not present, and I, for that reason, then continued the case to March. And that time I expressly excluded from applying to the Commonwealth, because we needed to know at that time where we were going in terms of management of the case.
N.T. Rule 600 Hr‘g, 6/2/23, at 4. Further, although the trial court did not include this fifth period of delay in its Rule 600 analysis, the court found that the delay was also
Following our review of the record, we agree with the trial court that the following periods of delay are attributable to Appellant and are therefore excludable. First, the fifty-six days from March 14, 2022 to May 9, 2022 were based on the trial court‘s order granting Appellant‘s February 28, 2022 request for a continuance. See Scheduling Form, 11/19/21; Appellant‘s Mot. to Continue, 2/28/22; Trial Ct. Order, 3/1/22; Scheduling Form, 3/3/22. The thirty-five days from May 9, 2022 to June 13, 2022 were based on Appellant‘s continuance request from April 20, 2022. See Appellant‘s Mot. to Continue, 4/20/22; Trial Ct. Order, 4/28/22; Scheduling Form, 4/28/22. Likewise, the ninety-one days from June 13, 2022 to September 12, 2022 were based on Appellant‘s continuance request from June 3, 2022. See Appellant‘s Mot. to Continue, 6/3/22; Trial Ct. Order, 6/9/22; Scheduling Form, 6/9/22. Further, the forty-six days from September 22, 2022,10 to November 7, 2022 were based on Appellant‘s continuance request from September 22, 2022. See Appellant‘s Mot. to Continue, 9/22/22; Trial Ct. Order, 9/22/22; Scheduling Form, 9/22/22. Lastly, the sixty-three days from January 9, 2023, to March 13, 2023 were due to Appellant‘s counsel failing to appear at the December 19, 2022 pretrial conference. See Scheduling Order, 12/7/22; Trial Ct. Order, 12/20/22; Scheduling Form, 12/20/22.
The sum of these five11 periods of delay is 291 days. Applying 291 days to the mechanical run date of October 3, 2022 results in an adjusted run date of July 21, 2023. Appellant filed his motion to dismiss alleging a Rule 600 violation on May 11, 2023, and a hearing on the issue was held on June 2, 2023. Appellant‘s Mot. to Dismiss, 5/11/23; N.T. Rule 600 Hr‘g, 6/2/23. Also as noted above, Appellant tendered his guilty plea on June 13, 2023. See N.T. Guilty Plea Hr‘g, 6/13/23, at 1-15.
Given the “consideration owed to the trial court‘s factual findings and analysis, where supported by the record, in resolving motions for dismissal[,]” and the “degree of deference” we give to a trial court‘s determinations, we discern no abuse of discretion in the trial court‘s denial of Appellant‘s Rule 600 motion. See Womack, 315 A.3d at 1237, 1240 n.8. Viewing the facts in the light most favorable to the Commonwealth as the prevailing party, the record shows that Appellant‘s Rule 600 motion to dismiss, the Rule 600 hearing, and Appellant‘s entry of a guilty plea all occurred prior to the adjusted run date. See id.; McCarthy, 180 A.3d at 376. Appellant‘s tender of a guilty plea on June 13, 2023 terminated the Commonwealth‘s obligation
Accordingly, we affirm.
Judgment of sentence affirmed. Motion to quash denied. Jurisdiction relinquished.
Judge Dubow joins the opinion.
Judge Kunselman files a concurring opinion in which Judge Dubow joins.
Judgment Entered.
Benjamin D. Kohler, Esq.
Prothonotary
DATE: 09/11/2024
