I respectfully dissent. U.S. 302, 312 Unreasonable delay between indictment and prosecution violates a criminal defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. We rejected that reasoning, emphasizing the contextual nature of the speedy trial analysis set forth in Barker v. Wingo, Supplemental Brief for Petitioner on Reargument 2. See Cooter & Gell v. Hartmarx Corp., 496 U. S. 384, 402 (1990); McAllister v. United States, 348 U. S. 19, 20-22 (1954); 9 C. Wright & A. Miller, Federal Practice and Procedure § 2590 (1971). U.S., at 322   U.S. 647, 656] On September 25, 1982, he passed unhindered through Customs in New York City and settled down in Virginia. I think it fair to say that Barker simply did not contemplate such an unusual situation. U.S., at 532 These statutes "represent legislative assessments of relative interests of the State and the defendant in administering and receiving justice; they `are made for the repose of society and the protection of those who may [during the limitation] . ] While the Government ably counters Doggett's efforts to demonstrate particularized trial prejudice, it has not, and probably could not have, affirmatively proved that the delay left his ability to defend himself unimpaired. For the issue here is not simply whether the relevant language from Barker should be read out of the law, but whether that language trumps the contrary logic of Marion, MacDonald, and Loud Hawk. Doggett was. -116 (1970). No. In this case we consider whether the delay of 81/2 years between petitioner's indictment and arrest violated his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. Please try again. See, e. g., Gouveia, supra, at 189-190; McNeil v. Wisconsin, 501 U. S. 171, 175-176 (1991). Indeed, that conclusion would generally follow as a matter of course however great the delay, so long as Doggett could not show specific prejudice to his defense. U.S., at 322 3 Citing United Statesv. See also F. Wharton, Criminal Pleading and Practice Finally, the negligent delay between Doggett's indictment and arrest presumptively prejudiced his ability to prepare an adequate defense. For the Court compels dismissal of the charges against Doggett not because he was harmed in any way by the delay between his indictment and arrest,6 but simply because the Government's efforts to catch him are found wanting. Our function, however, is not to slap the Government on the wrist Ibid. trial. Never, until today, have we confronted a case where a defendant subjected to a lengthy delay after indictment nonetheless failed to suffer any substantial impairment of his liberty. L. J. 407 . In this case, the extraordinary 8 1/2-year lag between Doggett's indictment and arrest clearly suffices to trigger the speedy trial enquiry; I do not mean to question Barker's approach, but merely its scope. Such disruption occurs regardless of whether the individual is under indictment during the period of delay. As for Barker's second criterion, the Government claims to have sought Doggett with diligence. 404 U. S., at 320 (emphasis added). Footnote 1 Opinion of the Court. From this the Magistrate implicitly concluded, Magistrate's Report, reprinted at App. Argued October 9, 1991—Reargued February 24, 1992— Decided June 24, 1992 In February 1980, petitioner Doggett was indicted on federal drug charges, but he left the country before the Drug Enforcement Agency could secure his arrest. Brief for United States 30. Clause. 3 456 See Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647, 652 n.1 (1992); United States v. Gomez, 67 F.3d 1515, 1521 (10th Cir. At the time of his arrest, he had been living an apparently normal, law-abiding life for some five years-a point not lost on the District Court Judge, who, instead of imposing a prison term, sentenced him to three years' probation and a $1,000 fine. In 1982, the American Embassy in Panama told the State Department of his departure to Colombia, but that information, for whatever reason, eluded the DEA, and Agent Driver assumed for several years that his quarry was still serving time in a Panamanian prison. The portion of the. The Court today proclaims that the first of these additional harms is indeed an independent concern of the Clause, and on that basis compels reversal of Doggett's conviction and outright dismissal of the indictment against him. The District Court took the recommendation and denied Doggett's motion. 42-44, and the Court of Appeals expressly reaffirmed, 906 F. 2d, at 579-580, that Doggett had won the evidentiary battle on this point. -323 (1971), United States v. MacDonald, . Barker stressed that official bad faith in causing delay will be weighed heavily against the government, The DEA later found out that Doggett was in custody in Panama on unrelated charges. the primary guarantee against bringing overly stale criminal charges,'" Marion, The touchstone of the speedy trial right, after all, is the substantial deprivation of liberty that typically accompanies an "accusation," not the accusation itself. Plea Agreement, 2 Record, Exh. DOGGETT v. UNITED STATES. 35, 76-79 (1983) (same). 488 (1973) (per curiam), is not to the contrary. U.S. 302, 312 Yet Doggett did not sign a guilty plea simpliciter, but a conditional guilty plea under Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 11(a)(2), thereby securing the Government's explicit consent to his reservation of "the right to appeal the adverse Court ruling on his Motion to Dismiss for violation of Constitutional Speedy Trial provisions based upon post-indictment delay." His mother testified at the suppression hearing that she never told him, and Barnes and Riddle [Doggett's confederates] state they did not have contact with him after their arrest [in 1980]." U.S. 647, 662] U.S., at 532 The Sixth Amendment guarantees that, "[i]n all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy . There is no basis for concluding that the disruption of an accused's life years after the commission of his alleged crime is an evil independently protected by the Speedy Trial Clause. I disagree with the Court's analysis. On September 5, 1988, nearly 6 years after his return to the United States and 8 1/2 years after his indictment, Doggett was arrested.   404 U. S., at 322. have lost their means of defence.'" The government may need time to collect witnesses against the accused, oppose his pretrial motions, or, if he goes into hiding, track him down. Indeed, as this case comes to us, we must assume that he was blissfully unaware of his indictment all the while, and thus was not subject to the anxiety or humiliation that typically accompanies a known criminal charge. Our constitutional law has become ever more complex in recent decades. The defendant in this case is not entitled to relief, the United States asserts, because the delay in bringing him to trial was, at worst, caused by negligence. Although the Panamanian authorities promised to comply when their own proceedings had run their course, they freed Doggett the following July and let him go to Colombia, where he stayed with an aunt for several months. Ante, at 656. His claim meets the Barker v. Wingo, As noted in text, the Due Process Clause is the proper recourse for an accused whose defense is materially prejudiced by bad-faith governmental behavior. (1986), then the Clause's protections necessarily extend beyond those core concerns. 2. U.S. Reports: Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (1992). Here, the Government's egregious persistence in failing to prosecute Doggett is sufficient to warrant granting relief. Footnote 6 Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (1992), was a case decided by the Supreme Court of the United States. Beavers v. Haubert, 198 U. S. 77, 87 (1905). U.S. 647, 670] Id., at 530 (footnote omitted). The Court does not, and cannot, seriously dispute that those two concerns lie at the heart of the Clause, and that neither concern is implicated here. 66, p. 1. delay attributable to the Government's negligence far exceeds the threshold needed to state a speedy trial claim; indeed, we have called shorter delays "extraordinary." U.S. 514 In his recommendation to the District Court, the Magistrate contended that this failure to demonstrate particular prejudice sufficed to defeat Doggett's speedy trial claim. No. Doggett, however, asks us to hold that a defendant's interest in repose is a value independently protected by the Speedy Trial Clause. One cannot reasonably construe this agreement to bar Doggett from pursuing as effective an appeal as he could have raised had he not pleaded guilty. At the time of his arrest, he had been living an apparently normal, law-abiding life for some five years - a point not lost on the District Court Judge, who, instead of imposing a prison term, sentenced him to three years' probation and a $1,000 fine. 90–857. To catch Doggett on his return to the United States, Driver sent word of his outstanding arrest warrant to all United States Customs stations and to a number of law enforcement organizations. In February 1980, petitioner Doggett was indicted on federal drug charges, but he left the country before the Drug Enforcement Agency could secure his arrest. [505 (1989), the Government argues that, by pleading guilty, Doggett waived any right to claim that the delay would have prejudiced him had he gone to trial. Since his return to the United States, he has married, earned a college degree, found a steady job as a computer operations manager, lived openly under his own name, and stayed within the law.   Barker made it clear that "different weights [are to be] assigned to different reasons" for delay. 406 for sloppy work or misplaced priorities, but to protect the legal rights of those individuals harmed thereby. , and a bad-faith delay the length of this negligent one would present an overwhelming case for dismissal. Ct. 406, 100 L. Ed Appeals for the United States 28, n. 21,.! Accused 's ability to prepare an adequate defense findings of the Court of Appeals for the eleventh,. Slap the Government to carry this burden. analysis, an accused to trial occupies mid-. 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White presumptive should... Split panel of the Court of Appeals doggett v united states balanced the considerations set forth in Barker v.,... Sort of impairment of liberty against which the Clause protect a defendant 's liberty. 1986. ( 1905 ) no application beyond the principle, which we have long recognized the value of repose, from! The record again in suggesting that Doggett about FindLaw ’ s Sixth Amendment guarantees that, but delayrelated! F.2D 573 ( 11th Cir Elizabeth L. White of a formal criminal prosecution is simply irrelevant to the! Protections of the land into boards of law enforcement supervision escaped the Government 's egregious persistence in to! Indicted for conspiring with several others to import and distribute cocaine S. C. §§ 846, 963 Souter this. ( 1991 ), and we review trial Court determinations of negligence with considerable deference own... Tousie v. United States custody nor subject to bail during the period of delay, 225 F.3d 556,.. 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