 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
State v. Werner6/5/2003
's motion to dismiss a charge under the IADA. Id. However, we review with deference the findings of historical fact upon which the trial justice's legal determination is based. These factual findings will be disturbed only if clearly wrong. Id.
The defendant was arraigned on the charges contained in this information in 1988. Between the date of his arraignment and November 1989, four attorneys were appointed to represent him and subsequently were discharged by Werner. Pretrial hearings on this information began before a justice of the Superior Court on September 15, 1988. At that time, Werner was represented by Attorney Richard Corley. The defendant told the justice that he wished to dismiss Attorney Corley and obtain new counsel because he was dissatisfied with Corley's representation. Over the objection of counsel for the state, the justice granted defendant's request. When Werner came before another justice of the Superior Court in December 1988, he again complained about counsel; but strangely enough, Attorney Corley was still representing Werner when he was presented before the first justice in April 1990, on a motion to suppress evidence found in the search of the Mercury Monarch that Werner drove on the night of the shooting. Attorney Corley was successful on this motion and the justice granted the motion to suppress the fruits of the search of the automobile. On appeal to this Court, the order suppressing the evidence was reversed in State v. Werner, 615 A.2d 1010 (R.I. 1992).
While the appeal from the order of suppression was pending, Werner was incarcerated in the Suffolk County jail in Massachusetts. He was released on bail in December 1991, but did not surrender to the Rhode Island authorities. He was again arrested in Massachusetts, on a charge of home invasion, in March 1992. He was incarcerated awaiting trial in Suffolk County, Massachusetts, at the time that this Court released its opinion in State v. Werner. After Werner was sentenced by a Massachusetts court in March 1993, the Rhode Island office of the Attorney General began attempts to seek custody of Werner pursuant to the IADA to face a number of criminal charges that were pending in this state. The history of these attempts is complex and subject to considerable dispute between the parties. It appears that during these attempts Mr. Werner at times worked at cross-purposes with the attorneys who represented him.
He appeared before a justice of the Superior Court on December 6, 1993, at which time the justice held that Rhode Island had sought temporary custody of defendant pursuant to Article III of the IADA rather than Article IV, which had been cited by counsel for defendant. The Court made the following findings of fact intermingled with conclusions of law:
"The detainer in this case is dated April 1, 1993. The State has represented to the Court that that detainer was mailed on April 8, '93 and received on April 12, '93, by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This representation is further supported by the fact that a copy of that letter was received by the Superior Court and date-stamped by the Clerk's Office April 12, 1993. The Court finds that the receipt of the detainer triggers the running of a 30 day period during which the sending state, that is Massachusetts, through its Governor, may object to the offer of temporary custody, or the prisoner himself may object to the offer of temporary custody, but that once the detainer is lodged, the 30 day period begins to run. At the expiration of the 30 day period, the sending state must offer to deliver temporary custody of the prisoner to the receiving state. This is provided in Article 5. Article 5 provides that at the expiration of the 30 day period
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Rhode Island DUI Attorneys
DUI Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to DUI Lawyers in your area.
|
|