Fourteen Day Untimeliness Claim To Have Presented Case to Grand Jury Rejected

State v. Vang, Minn.S.Ct., 7/6/2016.  The state charged Mr. Vang with second degree intentional murder.  Mr. Vang twice offered to plead guilty to that charge, the second time to serve the statutory maximum sentence. The state rejected both offers.  One hundred fifty days later the state presented the case to a grand jury, which indicted Mr. Vang on first degree premeditated murder charges.  Following a bench trial the court found Mr. Vang guilty and sentenced him to life without possibility of release.

Mr. Vang had asked the trial court to dismiss the indictment as untimely under Rule 8.02, subd. 2.  He said that when the court amended the rules of criminal procedure back in 2009 it actually changed the rule notwithstanding the claim of the rules committee that it was only making stylistic and formatting changes.  Here's what the rule said before the 2009 amendments:

If the offense charged in the complaint is a homicide and the prosecuting attorney notifies the court that the case will be presented to the grand jury, or if the offense is punishable by life imprisonment, the presentation of the case to the grand jury shall commence within 14 days from the date of defendant’s appearance in the court under this rule . . . .

And here's what the rule said after the amendments:

If the complaint charges a homicide, and the prosecuting attorney notifies the court that the case will be presented to the grand jury, or if the offense is punishable by life imprisonment, the defendant cannot enter a plea at the Rule 8 hearing.

Presentation of the case to the grand jury must commence within 14 days from the date of the defendant’s appearance in the court under this rule, and an indictment or report of no indictment must be returned within a reasonable time. If an indictment is returned, the Omnibus Hearing under Rule 11 must be held as provided by Rule 19.04, subd. 5. 

Mr. Vang said that 2009 amendments changed the rule by triggering the fourteen day deadline in not one but now two instances:  (1) notice under the first sentence; or (2) appearance under this rule. Justice Lillehaug rejects this interpretation.   The Justice said that the two sentences must be read together and that all conditions contained within the two sentences must be met in order to trigger the fourteen day deadline.  That is, the complaint must charge a homicide, the prosecutor must have notified the court of its intent to present the case to the grand jury or the offense must be punishable by life imprisonment, and the defendant must have made an appearance under Rule 8.  And besides, the court said in 2009 that it was not making any substantive changes to the rules and so that's that.

Mr. Vang also argued that he received ineffective assistance of counsel because counsel did not insist on scheduling a plea hearing despite the prosecutor's rejection of his plea offers.  The court rejects this claim, agreeing with the state and the trial court that the prosecutor could have thwarted such action by either dismissing the complaint or by filing an amended complaint that charged first degree murder.