State v. White

The trial court was authorized to find that, as result of state's negligence, the defendants were subjected to an extraordinarily long delay in being brought to trial, they were not dilatory in asserting their speedy trial rights and, as result of delay, their ability to defend against the belated charge was prejudiced.

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In May of 1999, Cedric White was killed in an exchange of gunfire with Appellees Larry and Carlos White. Appellees were arrested shortly thereafter. However, they were detained for only a short period. Apparently, Appellee Larry White was released on bond after being charged with voluntary manslaughter, and all charges against Appellee Carlos White were dropped. The State did not present the case to the grand jury until December of 2004, when a murder indictment was returned against both Appellees. Appellee Carlos White was rearrested in March of 2006, and Appellee Larry White was apprehended some months later. In December of 2006, Appellee Larry White filed a plea in bar and a motion to dismiss, alleging a violation of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. Subsequently, Appellee Carlos White joined the motion and also moved for dismissal. After conducting a hearing, the trial court granted Appellees’ motions to dismiss, finding that the delay in bringing them to trial was attributable to prosecutorial neglect and that their defense had been prejudiced. The State appeals. 1. The trial court granted Appellees’ motions to dismiss on January 19, 2007. On February 12, the State filed a motion for reconsideration, to which several exhibits, including affidavits, were attached. On February 15, the State filed a notice of appeal from the grant of Appellees’ motions to dismiss. On that same day, the trial court signed an order denying the State’s motion for reconsideration, but that order was not entered until February 16.

After the case was docketed in this Court, the State filed a brief in which the argument that the trial court erred in granting the motions to dismiss was supported by reliance on the exhibits attached to the motion for reconsideration. Appellees moved to strike those exhibits from the record on appeal. Because Appellees’ motion to strike invokes a ruling as to the scope of the record that this Court will be authorized to consider in addressing the merits of this appeal, we will first address that motion.

State v. White

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