eBook details
- Title: People State New York v. James Godwin
- Author : Supreme Court of New York
- Release Date : January 23, 1956
- Genre: Law,Books,Professional & Technical,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 62 KB
Description
Order unanimously reversed and the motion of defendant to dismiss the indictment denied, without costs. The 21-month delay
in bringing the defendant to trial may, in some circumstances, amount to a deprivation of his "guarantee of a speedy trial"
(People v. Prosser, 309 N. Y. 353, 356). But, as pointed out in the Prosser case, the question of delay is always a factual
one, and there is no absolute single test. The district attorney of Bronx County lodged a warrant against him while he was
in City Prison prior to his arraignment on the New York County indictments. This alone may not constitute a showing of good
cause for the delay (Code Crim. Pro., 668). Accordingly, this defendant, as distinguished from the defendant in the Prosser
case, must have had "an awareness that the prosecution was being kept alive * * *. [and] that a trial would eventually be
had" (p. 360), if only from the further action of the district attorney in having the Bronx County warrant lodged as a detainer
at Elmira Reformatory. Moreover defendant, through his counsel, three times requested a postponement after the district attorney
had stated that the People were ready for trial. This conduct spells out a waiver of defendant's right to a speedy trial.
(People v. Prosser, supra, p. 359.) Settle order on notice.