COMMONWEALTH of Pennsylvania, Appellee, v. Charles MONTIONE, Appellant.
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.
Argued Dec. 11, 1997. Decided Nov. 24, 1998.
720 A.2d 738
Eugene M. Talerico, Jr., Michael J. Barrasse, Scranton, for the Com.
Before FLAHERTY, C.J., and ZAPPALA, CAPPY, CASTILLE, NIGRO, and NEWMAN, JJ.
OPINION OF THE COURT
FLAHERTY, Chief Justice.
We granted allocatur in this case solely to resolve an issue of first impression whether filing pretrial motions tolls the statutory time limitations of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD),
On December 23, 1994, the Lackawanna County district attorney, pursuant to the IAD, filed a request for temporary custody of appellant who was then serving a 168 month sentence in the U.S. penitentiary at Lewisburg, Pennsylvania for a conviction on federal drug charges. The district attorney sought to try appellant on a charge of first degree murder as an accomplice, as well as other charges, in relation to a contract killing. Appellant was transferred from federal pris
On February 17, 1994, the Commonwealth filed a motion to consolidate appellant‘s case with that of the principal in the murder. A hearing on the motion was scheduled for March 24, 1994, and then continued without objection until April 28, 1994. On March 17, 1994, appellant filed an omnibus pretrial motion that included motions to quash the information, to suppress statements, and to appoint an investigator. The Commonwealth answered appellant‘s motion on March 21, 1994.
In early July, appellant wrote two letters to the trial court, one stating that he was ready for trial and the other advising the court of the applicability of the IAD. On September 1, 1994, appellant filed a motion to dismiss the charges for violation of the IAD. On July 27 and September 22, the court entered orders finding appellant unable to stand trial as the motion to quash was still outstanding. On October 14, 1994, the motion to consolidate was granted and the omnibus motion was denied. Trial was scheduled for November 17, 1994.
Trial was subsequently rescheduled for January 4, 1995, and after a hearing, the motion to dismiss was denied on December 20, 1994. Jury selection began on January 4, 1995, at which time appellant waived his right to a jury trial. Appellant‘s trial was separated from that of the principal who did not waive his right to a jury trial. A bench trial commenced on January 6, 1995. Appellant was convicted of first degree murder and criminal conspiracy and sentenced to life imprisonment plus five to ten years. The judgment was affirmed by the superior court. Appellant has since been returned to federal custody and now argues that the courts below erred by concluding that the filing of pretrial motions rendered him unable to stand trial, thereby tolling the time limitations of the IAD. We disagree.
The IAD is an agreement between forty-eight states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and
When a detainer is lodged, the sending jurisdiction2 must so inform the prisoner; the prisoner may then request that the
Although this court has not previously addressed tolling requirements in relation to the IAD, we find persuasive the analysis and interpretation of the courts that held that delay occasioned by the defendant is excludable, particularly in light of recent application of speedy trial provisions to IAD cases by Pennsylvania courts. See e.g., Commonwealth v. Woods, 444 Pa.Super. 321, 663 A.2d 803 (Pa.Super.1995) (applying speedy trial provisions to the IAD in holding that defendant‘s continued presence in federal custody constitutes an inability to stand trial, thereby tolling the statute). Cf. Commonwealth v. Riffert, 379 Pa.Super. 1, 549 A.2d 566 (Pa.Super.1988), alloc. denied, 522 Pa. 602, 562 A.2d 825 (Pa.1989) (holding that the speedy trial provision is tolled when a defendant‘s pretrial motion is pending). The Woods court determined that the IAD is consistent with the speedy trial provisions of
Additionally, this court has explicitly held that the IAD may be tolled by the defendant‘s own actions. Commonwealth v. Washington, 488 Pa. 133, 411 A.2d 490 (Pa.1979). In Washington, this court found no violation of the IAD where, in addition to consenting to a continuance of his trial, the defendant also delayed the start of his trial by filing a motion to dismiss one day before his trial was to begin. Id. at 491. Although the court in Washington disposed of the defendant‘s motion one day later, unlike the present case in which the court took months to dispose of appellant‘s motions, such a distinction is not grounds for dismissal of the charges. We
In the present case, appellant filed an omnibus pretrial motion including a motion to quash the information, as well as a motion to dismiss. The trial could not commence until these motions were resolved. By filing these motions, appellant implicitly consented to allow the court the requisite amount of time in order to dispose of them.
The judgment is affirmed.
NIGRO, J., files a concurring opinion in which CASTILLE, J., joins.
NIGRO, Justice, concurring.
I concur in the result reached by the majority. I write separately to clarify the reasoning behind my conclusion on this issue of first impression.
The issue presented is whether the filing of a pretrial motion tolls the time period within which Appellant had to be brought to trial under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD),
trial shall be commenced within 120 days of the arrival of the prisoner in the receiving state, but for good cause shown in open court, the prisoner or his counsel being present, the court having jurisdiction of the matter may grant any necessary or reasonable continuance.
In determining the duration and expiration dates of the time periods provided in Articles III and IV of this agreement, the running of said time periods shall be tolled whenever
and for as long as the prisoner is unable to stand trial, as determined by the court having jurisdiction of the matter.
Appellant argues that he was not brought to trial within 120 days, the case was not continued, and he was not “unable to stand trial” at any time before the running of the 120-day period. Appellant maintains that the lower courts erred by referring to speedy trial provisions contained in the Pennsylvania Rules of Criminal Procedure. Appellant also states that by finding that the filing of pretrial motions tolled the IAD‘s time requirements, the lower courts in effect punished him for pursuing his right to file such motions by allowing them only at the expense of his rights under the IAD.
Appellant relies in part upon the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in Birdwell v. Skeen, 983 F.2d 1332 (5th Cir.1993). Birdwell involved another IAD provision requiring a prosecutor to bring a prisoner to trial within 180 days of when he receives a prisoner‘s request for a final disposition of the charges. At a hearing on the defendant‘s motion to dismiss, the trial court granted a continuance so that the State could determine whether it needed the testimony of its investigator, who was unavailable due to an injury. Although a one-week continuance was granted, the hearing did not resume for three weeks.
In considering the defendant‘s claim that the IAD was violated, the Fifth Circuit addressed whether the defendant‘s motions tolled the running of the 180-day time period. The court rejected the State‘s argument that the time period was tolled because the defendant was unable to stand trial from the time he filed motions until they were resolved. Birdwell, 983 F.2d at 1340-41. The court reasoned that the phrase “unable to stand trial” was consistently used by federal courts to refer to a party‘s physical or mental ability to stand trial. Id. The court declined to expand the phrase to encompass a legal inability to stand trial due to outstanding motions. Id. Since there was no contention that the defendant was mentally or
Appellant also relies upon Stroble v. Anderson, 587 F.2d 830 (6th Cir.1978), cert. denied, 440 U.S. 940, 99 S.Ct. 1289, 59 L.Ed.2d 499 (1979). In Stroble, the defendant was brought to Michigan on murder charges under the IAD. Shortly before his trial date, the defendant filed a petition for a writ of habeas corpus in district court and the state authorities continued the trial pending the disposition of the petition. Because of the continuance, the defendant was brought to trial more than 120 days after he was brought to Michigan.
While the district court found that the habeas corpus proceedings did not toll the IAD‘s time requirement, it rejected the defendant‘s claim that the IAD was violated because it concluded that the continuance tolled the 120-day period. The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, however, held that the 120-day requirement was violated. It found that the record did not disclose any determination by the state courts that the defendant was unable to stand trial. Stroble, 587 F.2d at 838. He was within the trial court‘s jurisdiction and there was no showing that he was physically or mentally disabled. Id. The court further found that neither the defendant nor the prosecutor sought a postponement of the trial. Id. In addition, the record did not establish that the continuances were granted on good cause shown in open court, as required by the IAD, nor did it reflect a subsequent agreement to a continuance. Id. at 839.
While the issue on appeal in Stroble related to whether a continuance was granted on good cause shown in open court, Birdwell supports Appellant‘s argument that his pretrial motion did not toll IAD time requirements. Other federal courts, however, have reached the opposite result. In United States v. Neal, 36 F.3d 1190 (1st Cir.1994), cert. denied, — U.S.
The First Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, holding that delay attributable to the disposition of a defendant‘s motions is excludible from the 120-day time period. Neal, 36 F.3d at 1210. The court reasoned that the IAD‘s provision for tolling when a prisoner is unable to stand trial applies in this circumstance. Id. The First Circuit, however, holds out the possibility that an IAD violation may occur in certain cases where the court takes more time than necessary to resolve pretrial motions. Id. Under the facts in Neal, the court found that a 28-day delay in resolving the defendant‘s seven pretrial motions was not unreasonable, and that after excluding this delay, there was no violation of the IAD. Id.2 In addition, the Seventh Circuit has also found that the “unable to stand trial” tolling provision applies when a defendant files pretrial motions. See United States v. Dawn, 900 F.2d 1132 (7th Cir.), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 949, 111 S.Ct. 368, 112 L.Ed.2d 330 (1990).
Employing a different rationale, the Ninth Circuit also tolls the time requirements of the IAD for delays attributable to a defendant‘s pretrial motions. In United States v. Johnson, 953 F.2d 1167 (9th Cir.), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 879, 113 S.Ct. 226, 121 L.Ed.2d 163 (1992), the court addressed a challenge that the defendant‘s trial was untimely under the 180-day IAD requirement. The court stated that the Speedy Trial Act
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals more recently reviewed the three different standards the Circuit Courts have used to determine whether a prisoner is unable to stand trial under the IAD in United States v. Collins, 90 F.3d 1420 (9th Cir.1996). The Ninth Circuit rejected as too narrow the standard that the defendant be physically or mentally incapacitated to toll the time requirement. Collins, 90 F.3d at 1427. It stated that the IAD provides in Article VI(b) that it does not apply to persons who are mentally ill. Id. The court stated that if the drafters wanted to exclude only the physically
The Ninth Circuit also declined to adopt the legally “unable to stand trial” standard due to outstanding motions because it is too broad. Id. The court stated that it provides little guidance and its meaning could only be developed slowly on a case-by-case basis. Id. The court found the Second and Fourth Circuit‘s approach—applying the tolling provisions of the Speedy Trial Act—most sensible. Id. Consistent with its decision in Johnson, it held that any delay excusable under that Act also tolls the clock under the IAD. Id. Since the law under the Speedy Trial Act is developed, the district courts would have guidance. Id. Applying this test, the court held that the defendant‘s filing of motions in limine tolled the IAD‘s time requirements since they do so under the Speedy Trial Act. Id. at 1428.
While the Speedy Trial Act applies to federal prosecutions, Pennsylvania has its own speedy trial provision under Rule of Criminal Procedure 1100. In determining when trial must begin under Rule 1100, the time requirements are tolled in part for periods of delay resulting from the unavailability of the defendant and from any continuance granted at the defendant‘s request.
Having considered the rationale employed in similar cases decided by the federal courts, I conclude that the Superior Court properly looked to authority interpreting Rule 1100 to decide whether the IAD‘s time requirements are tolled by pretrial motions. Like the Speedy Trial Act and the IAD, Rule 1100 seeks to ensure that those who are accused of a
Finally, Appellant argues that by finding that the filing of pretrial motions tolled the IAD‘s time requirements, he is in effect punished for pursuing his right to file such motions. I disagree. Appellant sought to benefit from filing pretrial motions. Such motions necessarily result in delays. As aptly stated by the Commonwealth, to hold otherwise would place the keys to the jailhouse door in Appellant‘s hands by allowing him to file pretrial motions and at the same time allowing the IAD time clock to run.
For these reasons, I concur in the result reached by the majority to affirm the Superior Court‘s decision.
CASTILLE, J., joins in the concurring opinion.
Notes
Although this is an issue of first impression in Pennsylvania, several federal jurisdictions have considered this matter with conflicting results. Some courts have strictly construed the provisions of the IAD and applied it in a prophylactic manner in favor of the defendant. See e.g., Birdwell v. Skeen, 983 F.2d 1332 (5th Cir.1993), and Stroble v. Anderson, 587 F.2d 830 (6th Cir.1978), cert. denied 440 U.S. 940, 99 S.Ct. 1289, 59 L.Ed.2d 499 (1979). However, many courts have reached the opposite conclusion and applied the IAD in a less severe manner. See e.g., United States v. Neal, 36 F.3d 1190 (1st Cir.1994); United States v. Johnson, 953 F.2d 1167 (9th Cir.1992), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 879, 113 S.Ct. 226, 121 L.Ed.2d 163 (1992); United States v. Dawn, 900 F.2d 1132, (7th Cir.1990), cert. denied, 498 U.S. 949, 111 S.Ct. 368, 112 L.Ed.2d 330 (1990); United States v. Scheer, supra; and United States v. Hines, 717 F.2d 1481 (4th Cir.1983), cert. charges or when a request for custody is made.