HENDERSON ET AL. v. UNITED STATES
No. 84-1744
Supreme Court of the United States
May 19, 1986
476 U.S. 321
Argued April 1, 1986
Denise Anton argued the cause for petitioners. With her on the briefs were Alex Reisman and Paul G. Sloan.
Roger Clegg argued the cause for the United States. On the brief were Solicitor General Fried, Assistant Attorney General Trott, Deputy Solicitor General Frey, Charles A. Rothfeld, and Patty Merkamp Stemler.
JUSTICE POWELL delivered the opinion of the Court.
The Speedy Trial Act,
I
A jury convicted petitioners of charges arising out of manufacture, possession, and distribution of controlled sub
The Speedy Trial Act requires that trial begin within 70 days of the latest indictment, information, or appearance—in this case, September 3.
From January 25 to May 10, 1982, both parties filed additional motions before the District Court—on January 25 the Government moved to set the case for trial, and on March 23 petitioners moved to reconsider the motion to suppress.4 On February 3, the court held a hearing on the Government‘s motion and granted a continuance through April 21 to allow defense counsel tо file a motion for reconsideration of the order denying the suppression motion. After a hearing on May 10, the court denied petitioners’ motion to reconsider the motion to suppress, and set a trial date of September 13, 1982. The court also entered an order excluding, for purposes of the Act, the time from May 10 to September 13 based on a provision of the Act that allows such exclusion by the Court to satisfy the “ends of justice.” Id., at 32-33; see
On July 23, 1982, Thornton filed a motion to dismiss the superseding indictment for violation of the Speedy Trial Act. The other two petitioners subsequently joined this motion. The District Judge held a hearing almost two months later, on September 8, and denied the motion frоm the bench on that date. He filed a memorandum and order outlining his reasons exactly 30 days later. At that time, the judge also entered an order excluding the time from October 8 to November 1, again based on the “interests of justice.” 3 Record, Doc. Nos. 98-99. Trial commenced on November 1, 1982.
Petitioners appealed their convictions, arguing, inter alia, that the District Court could exclude from their Speedy Trial Act computation only delays that were “reasonably necessary.” 746 F. 2d 619, 622 (CA9 1984). The Court of Appeals held that the statute “excludes delays resulting from pretrial motions without qualification.” Ibid. The court noted that Congress had explicitly provided that the excludability of certain other delays depended on their reasonableness, but had not done so for delays from pretrial motions. Ibid. Judge Ferguson dissented, relying on the Act‘s legislative history and the interpretations of other Circuits. Id., at 625-626. We granted certiorari to resolve a conflict among the Circuits.6 474 U. S. 900 (1985). We now affirm.
II
The Speedy Trial Act requires that a criminal trial must commence within 70 days of the latest of a defendant‘s indictment, information, or appearance, barring periods of excludable delay. United States v. Rojas-Contreras, 474 U. S. 231 (1985); see
“(h) The following periods of delay shall be excluded in computing the time within which an information or an indictment must be filed, or in computing the time within which the trial of аny such offense must commence:
“(1) Any period of delay resulting from other proceedings concerning the defendant, including but not limited to—
. . . . .
“(F) delay resulting from any pretrial motion, from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hearing on, or other prompt disposition of, such motion” (emphasis added).
A
On its face, subsection (F) excludes “[a]ny period of delay” caused by “any pretrial motion,” “from the filing of the motion through the conclusion of the hearing.” The plain terms of the statute appear to exclude all time between the filing of and the hearing on a motion whether that hearing was prompt or not. Moreover, subsection (F) does not require
The legislative history of the 1979 Amendments to the Act supports this reading of subsection (F).8 That history shows that Congress was aware of the breadth of the exclusion it was enacting in subsection (F). The Senate Judiciary Com
Petitioners largely concede these arguments and advance two other contentions for limiting subsection (F)‘s exclusion to time that is “reasonably necessary” for the disposition of pretrial motions. First, they contend that the phrase “other prompt disposition” within subsection (F) implies that a district court may not unreasonably delay a criminal trial by deferring a hearing on a pretrial motion. Two of the Courts of Appeals that have limited the exclusion in subsection (F) to delays that are “reasonably necessary” have relied on this argument. United States v. Janik, 723 F. 2d 537, 543 (CA7 1983); United States v. Cobb, 697 F. 2d 38, 41-42 (CA2 1982). But a reading of subsection (F) in connection with
Subsection (F), written in the disjunctive, excludes time in two situations. The first arises when a pretrial motion requires a hearing: subsection (F) on its face excludes the entire period between the filing of the motion and the conclusion of the hearing. The second situation concerns motions that require no hearing and that result in a “prompt disposition.” There, the promptness requirement was “intended to provide a point at which time will cease to be excluded, where motions are decided on the papers filed without hearing.” S. Rep. No. 96-212, at 34. The “point at which time will cease tо be excluded” is identified by subsection (J), which permits an exclusion of 30 days from the time a motion is actually “under advisement” by the court. Without the promptness requirement in subsection (F), a court could exclude time beyond subsection (J)‘s 30-day “under advisement” provision simply by designating the additional period as time “from the filing of the motion” through its “disposition” under subsection (F). As the Senate Committee on the Judiciary explained:
“In using the words ‘prompt disposition‘, the committee intends to make it clear that, in excluding time between filing and disposition on the papers, the Committee does not intend to permit circumvention of the 30-days, ‘under advisement’ provision contained in Subsection (h)(1)(J). Indeed, if motiоns are so simple or routine that they do not require a hearing, necessary advisement time should be considerably less than 30 days.” Ibid.
We therefore conclude that for pretrial motions that require a hearing, the phrase “or other prompt disposition” in subsec
Petitioners’ second argument rests on the sentence that immediately follows the extract quoted above: “Nor does the Committee intend that additional time be made eligible for exclusion by postponing the hearing date or other dispоsition of the motions beyond what is reasonably necessary.” Ibid. (emphasis added). Four Courts of Appeals have relied on this legislative history to support their “reasonably necessary” qualification in subsection (F). United States v. Ray, 768 F. 2d 991, 998 (CA8 1985); United States v. Mitchell, 723 F. 2d 1040, 1047 (CA1 1983); United States v. Novak, 715 F. 2d 810, 819 (CA3 1983), cert. denied sub nom. Ware v. United States, 465 U. S. 1030 (1984); United States v. Cobb, 697 F. 2d 38, 44 (CA2 1982).
Any qualification of subsection (F)‘s exclusion based on this sentence, which appears in the paragraph discussing motions decided without a hearing, would be at odds with the plain language of the statute. It also would be contrary to other passages contained in both the House and Senate Reports that specifically concern the “hearings” provision of subsection (F). See supra, at 327-328. We therefore decline to read into subsection (F) a “reasonably necessary” qualification based on this single sentence from the Senate Report. We instead hold that Congress intended subsection (F) to exclude from the Speedy Trial Act‘s 70-day limitation all time between the filing of a motion and the conclusion of the hearing on that motion, whether or not a delay in holding that hearing is “reasonably necessary.”
B
The remaining issue is whether subsection (F) excludes time after a hearing on a motion but before the district court receives all the submissions by counsel it needs to decide that motion. Cf. § 3161(h)(1) (excluding “[a]ny period of delay re
The provisions of the Act are designed to exclude all time that is consumed in placing the trial court in a position to dispose of a motion. See, e. g., S. Rep. No. 96-212, at 9-10. District courts often find it impossible to resolve motions on which hearings have been held until the parties have submitted posthearing briefs or additional factual materials, especially where the motion presents complicated issues. It would not have been sensible for Congress to exclude automatically all the time prior to the hearing on a motion and 30 days after the motion is taken under аdvisement, but not the time during which the court remains unable to rule because it is awaiting the submission by counsel of additional materials. Moreover, for motions decided solely on the papers, Congress has allowed exclusion of time during which the parties are filing their briefs.
III
We now calculate the number of nonexcludable days before petitioners’ trial. The Act began to run on September 3, 1980, the date of arraignment of codefendant Bell. On October 22, 1980, the District Court entered—with the consent of the parties—a continuance through November 12. The District Court excluded that continuance from the Speedy Trial
The motion to suppress was filed during this continuance, on November 3, 1980. App. 27. The hearing on this and subsequent motions was held on March 25, 1981. Id., at 28. This time is automatically excludable under § 3161(h)(1)(F). The court declined to reach a final decision on the suppression motion at that hearing because it needed further information. Id., at 28-29. The court did not receive all filings in connection with the motion until December 15, 1981, when the Government submitted its response to petitioners’ memorandum and request for an evidentiary hearing. Id., at 31. That time is also excludable, plus 30 days for the District Court to take the matter under advisement. We therefore exclude the period from March 25, 1981, through January 14, 1982.
On January 25, 1982, the Government filed a motion to set the case for trial, noticed for February 3. We need not decide whether this time is excludable under subsection (F) as it does not affect thе disposition of this case. On February 3, the court continued the case until April 21, to afford defense counsel the opportunity to file a motion to reconsider the suppression ruling. Ibid. The District Court subsequently found that this time was excludable under § 3161(h)(8)(A) as a continuance necessary for the “interests of justice.” Id., at 34.10 On March 23, petitioners filed their motion for reconsideration. Under subsection (F), an exclusion for this pending motion ran from March 23 until the disposition by hearing on May 10. See App. 33. At that time, the court stated that it would exclude under § 3161(h)(8)(A) the time from May 10 to September 13, the new trial date, because of the difficulty of coordinating the schedules of five defense attorneys. The court entered a similar order on September 13
IV
The judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit is affirmed.
It is so ordered.
JUSTICE WHITE, with whom JUSTICE BRENNAN, JUSTICE MARSHALL, and JUSTICE BLACKMUN join, dissenting.
The purpose of the Speedy Trial Act of 1974, as amended in 1979 and in 1984,
As interpreted by the majority, § 3161(h)(1)(F) (subsection (F)) excludes the entire period between the filing of the pretrial motion and the date on whiсh the motion is finally taken under advisement. For motions requiring a hearing, all time
For pretrial motions that do not require a hearing, the majority reads subsection (F) to exclude the entire period of time from the filing of the motion through its “prompt disposition.” Ante, at 329. As construed by the Court, however, the word “prompt” does not refer to the speed at which the trial court is required to handle the motion; instead, it merely serves to designate the “point at which time will cease to be excluded.” Ibid. That is to say, Congress inserted the word “prompt” simply to distinguish the time at which the motion is taken under advisement from the “final” disposition, or resolution, of the pretrial motion by the court, and thus prevent trial courts from avoiding the 30-day limitation imposed by subsection (J) by claiming that the unlimited delay sanctioned by subsection (F) applies until the court finally disposes of (i. e., decides) the pretrial motion. Ante, at 329.
As I see it, the majority has misread both subsection (F) and the Act as a whole. I read subsection (F) to require all pretrial motions, regardless of whether they require a hearing, to be disposed of promptly. There is no reason to be
This reading of subsection (F) is consistent with the structure of the Speedy Trial Act taken as a whole. Subsection (F) allows for the exclusion of the period of delay occurring between the making of the pretrial motion and its submission to the trial court for decision. It is this portion of the pretrial proceedings that the Act commands must be “prompt,” and the reason for such a requirement is clear: it forces the parties to submit all necessary papers, and the court to hold any necessary hearings and decide what information it needs, in a timely and orderly manner. As shown above, the use of the word “prompt” in this context does more than simply distinguish this point in time from the time when the motion is finally decided (i. e., the “final” disposition of the motion); instead, it describes the pace at which both the parties and the court are to act in ensuring that the trial judge can rule on the pretrial motion as quickly as possible. The promptness requirement, in other words, expressly is designed to prevent endless and needless delays in the assembly of the relevant material necessary for the trial court to make a reasoned decision on the submitted pretrial motion.
Construing subsection (F) as mandating the prompt scheduling of hearings and submission of material in order for the trial court to take the matter under advisement is supported not only by the language of the statute and the structure of the Act, but also by the legislative history. In explaining the 1979 Amendments to the Act which established subsection (F) in its present form, the Senate Judiciary Committee noted that this portion of the Act “must be read together with the proposed change in clause (ii) of subsection (h)(8)(B) involving ‘preparation’ for ‘pretrial proceedings.‘” S. Rep. No. 96-212, p. 33 (1979).1 The Committee expressly re-
rules rather than by the statute itself,” ante, at 328, the majority fails to consider the applicable local rules relevant to this case. These provide that “[a]ll pre-trial hearings shall be conducted as soon after the arraignment as possible, consistent with the priorities of other matters on the court‘s criminal docket.” U. S. District Court, Northern District of California, Plan for Prompt Disposition of Criminal Cases, Sec. II(4)(F)(4) (revised, Apr. 7, 1980), California Rules of Court 822-824 (West 1986). Although this rule does not offer any specific guidance, it is sufficient to invoke the “reasonably necessary” standard intended by Congress. Finally, the majority states that it is deferring to the Ninth Circuit‘s determination that the local rules were not violated in this case. Ante, at 328, n. 9. This finding is not supported by the record, for although the lower court cited to the local rules, 746 F. 2d 619, 623 (1984), there is no indication that the panel ever applied the rules to the facts of this case, let alone that it found that the rules had not been violated.
I agree with this wealth of statutory, judicial, and scholarly authority, and would hold that the Speedy Trial Act requires a trial court to take all pretrial motions under advisement in a prompt manner, and as a result, that only that period of delay found to be reasonably necessary to such a prompt handling of the motion is properly excludable under subsection (F). By holding that the entire period of delay from the filing of a pretrial motion until that motion is tаken under advisement is excludable from the 70-day speedy trial computation, the majority allows this exception to swallow the rule and in so doing, undermines the entire Act. As Judge Ferguson concluded in his dissent below, “[w]hile I sympathize with the majority‘s search for a per se rule . . . I cannot agree that the desire for an ‘easy’ rule can justify the abrogation of the major purpose of the Speedy Trial Act—to insure the defendant a speedy trial.” 746 F. 2d 619, 627 (1984). I would reverse the judgment of the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, and remand for a determination of whether the delay in this case was reasonable.