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BAILEY v. MUNICIPALITY OF ANCHORAGE4/3/1998
Alaska Criminal Rule 45(c)(1) currently provides that, with certain exceptions not pertinent here, the time within which a defendant must be tried begins to run from the date the "charging document" is served upon the defendant. This case raises the question of whether an "Order and Conditions of Release" form issued by a magistrate following an arrestee's initial appearance under Criminal Rule 5(a)(1) is a "charging document" for purposes of Rule 45(c)(1), triggering the time period for bringing the arrestee to trial. We hold that it is not.
On July 3, 1996, Kelly G. Bailey was arrested and taken before a magistrate pursuant to Criminal Rule 5(a)(1). The magistrate ordered Bailey to be held in lieu of $2500 bail. The magistrate then signed an "Order and Conditions of Release" form that was captioned "State of Alaska vs. Kelley Bailey." This form bore the case number "96-5035 Cr," and it referred to the "charges" against Bailey as third-degree assault, driving while intoxicated, and resisting arrest.
However, the State of Alaska never brought these or any other charges against Bailey. When Bailey appeared in court on July 24 (as she had been directed to do upon her release), no charges had been filed, and Bailey was discharged. When she left court on July 24, Bailey had never been served with any criminal complaint, indictment, information, or citation.
Six weeks later, on September 9, 1996, the Municipality of Anchorage filed a criminal complaint against Bailey under a new case number, 3AN-M96-7101 Cr. This complaint charged Bailey with the municipal offenses of driving while intoxicated and resisting an officer. AMC § 09.28.020(A); AMC § 08.05.530(A).
On December 12, 1996, Bailey moved to dismiss these charges. She argued that the time for bringing her to trial had already expired because Rule 45 began to run on July 3, the day she was arrested and appeared in front of the magistrate. Acting District Court Judge Nancy J. Nolan denied Bailey's motion. Bailey then pleaded no contest to the municipal charges, preserving her Rule 45 motion for appeal. See Cooksey v. State, 524 P.2d 1251, 1255-57 (Alaska 1974).
In this appeal, Bailey argues that the bail release form she received from the magistrate at her initial appearance constituted a "charging document" for purposes of Rule 45(c)(1). Bailey contends that the bail release form was a "charging document" because the form notified her that the State of Alaska was bringing a criminal case against her and that she was charged with various offenses under state law.
Criminal Rule 45(c)(1) currently provides, in pertinent part, that "the time for trial shall begin running, without demand by the defendant, from the date the charging document is served upon the defendant." This is a significant change from the pre-1993 version of the rule. Under the former version of the rule, the time for bringing a defendant to trial generally began to run " rom the date the defendant arrested, initially arraigned, or from the date the charge (complaint, indictment, or information) served upon the defendant, whichever first."
In her ruling, Judge Nolan wrote that "it appears that the rule was amended [in 1993] specifically to eliminate an arrest as the triggering
event for commencement of the rule." Judge Nolan's conclusion is firmly supported by memoranda of the Supreme Court's Standing Committee on the Rules of Criminal Procedure, the body that proposed the 1993 amendment to the court. The Criminal Rules Committee proposed that Rule 45(c) be amended so that the time for bringing a defendant to trial would no longer begin running from the date of the arrest, but would instead b
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