{1} On June 12, 2001, Defendant conditionally pleaded no contest to aggravated assault and shoplifting, reserving his right to appeal the trial court’s denial of his speedy-trial claim. The alleged crimes occurred on August 27, 1998. The State, however, did not indict Defendant until February 19,1999, and did not arraign him until fourteen months later, April 10, 2000. The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court in a memorandum opinion, and we granted Defendant’s petition for certiorari. Although some of the delay is not considered in the analysis, we hold the State violated Defendant’s right to a speedy trial. We are particularly troubled by the unexplained and unjustifiable fourteen-month gap between Defendant’s indictment and his arraignment. We therefore reverse the trial court and the Court of Appeals and remand with instructions to dismiss the case with prejudice.
I. Facts
{2} On August 27, 1998, Defendant is alleged to have shoplifted cigarettes from a Wal-Mart in Las Cruces and to have assaulted a store guard with a knife when the guard tried to apprehend him. When he was apprehended, he was also found in possession of a heroin syringe. He was apparently arrested on that day, but there is great confusion, and no record evidence, of what he was arrested for or what happened next. Defendant asserted at the hearing below, and continues to assert on appeal, that he pleaded guilty in municipal court to possession of drug paraphernalia and shoplifting. Defendant concedes, however, that there is no record of any shoplifting plea in the municipal court records. It is clear from the record, on the other hand, that Defendant did plead guilty to possession of drug paraphernalia.
{3} At the time of his arrest, on August 27, 1998, it was also discovered that Defendant had outstanding warrants in Bernalillo County. Defendant was transported to Bernalillo County where, as a result of the outstanding warrants, he was committed to the Department of Corrections. Nearly six months later, on February 19,1999, the State finally indicted Defendant on three counts arising from the Wal-Mart incident: shoplifting, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, and possession of drug paraphernalia. There is no explanation in the record for the delay from the arrest to the indictment.
{4} After his indictment, a secured bond was placed on Defendant, and a criminal summons was sent to an address in Albuquerque ordering him to appear for arraignment on March 1,1999. Defendant, who was in State custody at the time, did not receive the summons, and when he failed to appear for arraignment, the court issued a bench warrant for his arrest on March 2, 1999.
{6} The first trial setting was initially scheduled for August 9, 2000, but Defendant’s attorney filed a stipulated motion for continuance on August 1, 2000, alleging that Defendant was in prison in the Santa Rosa facility, that defense counsel had not had the opportunity to meet with him, and that Defendant would agree to a rule extension. The State petitioned for a three-month rule extension on October 11, 2000, which the district court granted; the motion indicates that Defendant did not oppose it. This Court subsequently extended the time for six months, from January 11, 2001, to July 11, 2001.
{7} The district court scheduled the next trial date for June 12, 2001. On June 1, 2001, Defendant filed a motion to dismiss for a speedy-trial violation, which was heard and denied at the June 12, 2001 trial setting. Defendant then entered a conditional plea of no contest, expressly reserving his right to appeal the district court’s denial of his speedy-trial motion and its determination of when Defendant became “accused” within that analysis. The Court of Appeals, in an unpublished memorandum opinion, affirmed the district court.
II. Propriety of the Writ of Certiorari
{8} Initially, we must resolve an issue raised by the State in its answer brief, specifically whether Defendant properly invoked the appellate jurisdiction of this Court. The State, citing Rule 12-502(0(4) NMRA 2003 and NMSA 1978, § 34-5-14 (1972), argues we should quash the writ of certiorari because Defendant failed to make a jurisdictional claim in his brief in chief. We disagree.
{9} Neither the rule nor the statute cited by the State would require Defendant to establish the propriety of the writ of certiorari in his brief in chief. Rather, Rule 12-502 governs petitions for writs of certiorari, and it requires that the petition allege one of four grounds for granting the writ. See Rule 12-502(C)(4)(a)-(d). On the other hand, Rule 12-213(A) NMRA 2003, which governs the contents of briefs in chief, does not require a party to restate the grounds for granting the writ of certiorari.
{10} Defendant alleged in his petition for a writ of certiorari that the State violated his rights as provided under the Fifth, Sixth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution, and Article II, Section 14 of the New Mexico Constitution. See Rule 12-502(C)(4)(e). Thus, we have jurisdiction to review Defendant’s case by writ of certiorari because it “involves a significant question of law under the constitution of New Mexico or the United States.” Section 34-5-14(B)(3); State v. Ashley,
III. Speedy Trial Claim
{11} The parties agree this case is governed by the framework established by Barker v. Wingo,
A. Length of Delay
{12} The Court of Appeals identified February 19, 1999, the date the indictment was filed, as the moment the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial attached. In general, the right attaches when the defendant becomes an accused, that is, by “a filing of a formal indictment or information or arrest and holding to answer.” State v. Sanchez,
{13} From the date of the indictment to the date Defendant pleaded no contest, twenty-seven months elapsed. Although not all of the delay can be attributed to the State, we do not consider the extent to which the delay can be attributed to the State or Defendant when first determining whether the delay is presumptively prejudicial. State v. Lujan,
B. Reasons for Delay
{14} The Court of Appeals concluded that, although the length of delay was presumptively prejudicial, the reasons for the delay do not weigh heavily against the State. The Court of Appeals reasoned that Defendant shares some of the blame for the delay between the indictment and the arraignment because he provided the State with the address to which the indictment was mailed. We disagree. The delay between the indictment in February 1999 and the arraignment in April 2000 is without justification and should therefore weigh against the State. There is neither allegation nor evidence in the record to establish that Defendant attempted to evade service by giving an incorrect address to the State. Cf. Jacquez,
{15} Contrary to the Court of Appeals, we find this case remarkably similar to Zurla,
C. Assertion of the Right
{16} Although Defendant demanded a speedy trial three times, the Court of Appeals concluded that, considering the timing and nature of the demands, this factor should not be given much weight. The Court of Appeals correctly determined that each demand for a speedy trial was not as forceful as it could have been; nonetheless, we conclude it gave too little weight to the fact that Defendant asserted his right three times during these proceedings. The first of these motions came as part of the pro forma pretrial motions Defendant’s counsel filed upon entering his appearance. Such pro forma motions are generally afforded relatively little weight in this analysis. State v. Marquez,
D. Prejudice
{17} We agree with the Court of Appeals that Defendant’s actual prejudice was minimal, and does not weigh heavily in his favor. In Barker, the U.S. Supreme Court identified three sources of prejudice in a delay: (1) oppressive pretrial incarceration, (2) anxiety and concern of the accused, and most importantly, (3) impairment of the defense.
{18} Defendant also claims the lengthy passage of time prevented him from locating and interviewing key witnesses. This claim is simply too speculative to be given much weight. Defendant identifies “Eric” as his key witness, a person whose last name the police never obtained. It is hard to see how the delay prevented Defendant from locating the witness when his full name and whereabouts were never known. Perhaps Defendant believes that had he been promptly indicted, then arraigned, the officer who identified the witness as “Eric” may have been able to refer to field notes to refresh his recollection, or that a fresher memory may have assisted the officer in fully identifying the witness. Significantly, however, Defendant failed to articulate how this witness may have been able to assist in his defense. Moreover, as the State indicated at the hearing below, the key witnesses were present and available for interview, but Defendant declined to interview them with one exception. Defendant’s claims with respect to lost witnesses are, at best, speculative. See State v. Lucero,
{19} Finally, Defendant claims he lost the opportunity to serve his multiple sentences concurrently. Such a loss is cognizable prejudice under our case law, see Zurla,
E. Balancing the Factors
{20} Defendant’s trial commenced twenty-seven months after his indictment. The State failed to arraign Defendant on the charges until fourteen months after the indictment. Over half of the total delay in this case was thus caused by the State’s unjustified negligence in not knowing that Defendant was in its custody. For this concededly simple case, nine months is the minimum delay that becomes presumptively prejudicial. Here, the total delay was three times that minimum amount, and the delay attributable solely to the State’s negligence was five months greater than that nine months;
IV. Conclusion
{21} ' Because we have concluded that Defendant’s judgment and sentence in this case must be dismissed with prejudice, we need not address Defendant’s claim that he is entitled to credit for his presentence confinement from August 27, 1998. We reverse the Court of Appeals, and remand this case to the trial court to dismiss the charges against Defendant with prejudice.
{22} IT IS SO ORDERED.