On These Facts, A Twenty-One Month Delay Between Charge and Arrest Did Not Violate Sixth Amendment Speedy Trial Right

State v. Osorio, Minn.S.Ct., 3/22/2017.  Mr. Osorio complained that a twenty-one month delay between the date that the state charged him with a crime and the date of his arrest violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial.  The trial court agreed and threw the case out. The court of appeals reversed the trial court and now Justice G. Barry Anderson affirms the court of appeals, over the dissents of Justices Hudson and Strass.  With two members of the court - Chutich and McKeig, not participating, it's a 3-2 opinion.

Justice G. Barry Anderson again awards the length of delay factor to Mr. Osorio.  The blame for the delay also goes to the State:

Thus, while Osorio may have had an obligation or responsibility to respond to the summons because it was a valid court order, he did not have a constitutional duty to bring himself to trial.

The State, on the other hand, does have a responsibility to diligently pursue and prosecute the defendant. See Doggett, 505 U.S. at 652-53. In this case, the State was clearly aware of Osorio’s whereabouts and could have easily followed up on his location by contacting law enforcement officials in California. The State’s complete failure to take any steps to execute the warrant against Osorio is the reason for the delay in this case. 

But, the Justice concludes (somehow) that the failure to take steps to get Mr. Osorio back to Minnesota wasn't intentional so it gets only a mild slap on this factor.

On the third factor, assertion of the speedy trial right, the court does reject the notion that there was a presumption that Mr. Osorio received the summons and complaint because the same were not returned. Instead, the court looks to the "totality of the circumstances" to conclude that he got those papers and then sat back to await further developments.  So, this factor goes against Mr. Osorio.

Finally, Mr. Osorio sort of loses the prejudice factor on the facts of the case.

Although the State “has not, and probably could not have, affirmatively proved that the delay left [the defendant’s] ability to defend himself unimpaired,” Doggett, 505 U.S. 658 n.4, Osorio’s acquiescence to the delay reduces the weight that we afford his claim of generalized prejudice. As a result, the prejudice factor does not provide significant support for Osorio’s claim. 

Mr. Osoria had alleged that some recordings had been destroyed but he was unable to show when that destruction occurred.  The record did not establish that they were lost after the State charged Mr. Osorio, so he could not really show prejudice as a result of that destruction.

Justices Hudson and Stras thought that the third and fourth factors weighed in Mr. Osorio's favor and that his Sixth Amendment speedy trial right was, indeed, violate.