Uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detainers Act Not Applicable to Delay in Sentencing.

State v. Brown, Minn.Ct.App., 8/12/2013.  Mr. Brown pled guilty in Ramsey County to criminal sexual conduct in the third degree.  This was back in June 2010; a month later he failed to show up for sentencing.  Four months later, Mr. Brown pled guilty across the river in Hennepin County to simple robbery and got sent to prison.

Ramsey County then filed a detainer that it claimed did not entitle Mr. Brown to request disposition under the uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detainers Act because he had already pled guilty.  From prison Mr. Brown sent a letter to the Ramsey District Court asking that court to execute his sentence on their case and to run it concurrently.  After a while – more than six months – Mr. Brown filed a motion to dismiss the Complaint because he hadn’t been brought in for sentencing within six months.  The trial court denied that motion and imposed a Guidelines sentence.  Mr. Brown appealed the denial of his motion to dismiss.

The uniform act says that an untried indictment or complaint against a prisoner must be “brought to trial” within six months of receipt of the prisoner’s request under the act.  Mr. Brown said that the sentencing hearing was part of the trial and when his sentencing hearing did not occur within the six month window he was entitled to a dismissal of the charges.  The court of appeals disagreed, saying that “trial” only refers to the guilt phase of a criminal case.  So, the uniform act does not provide for the dismissal of a complaint based on a delay in sentencing.