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Name: Netzley v. Superior Court
Case #: E040033
Court: CA Court of Appeal
District 4 DCA
Division: 2
Opinion Date: 02/22/2008
Summary

Under the Interstate Agreement on Detainers (IAD), the 180 day period to bring defendant to trial is tolled when he is “unable to stand trial” as a result of his placement in disciplinary segregation for his unacceptable behavior. On January 14, 2004, an arrest warrant was issued for petitioner by the San Bernadino County District Attorney’s office. On October 19, 2004, petitioner was imprisoned in an Oregon correctional institution for unrelated matters and on January 28, 2005, per petitioner’s desire, a proper IAD request was sent to San Bernadino by the prison facility, being received by San Bernadino on February 3, 2005. The provisions of the IAD require that a defendant be brought to trial within 180 days of receipt of his request by the prosecuting jurisdiction and, if he is not, the pending charges are dismissed with prejudice. An exception to the 180 day period results when the prisoner is “unable to stand trial.” In this case, following his imprisonment in Oregon, petitioner engaged in disruptive and assaultive behavior and was placed in disciplinary segregation. In response to San Bernadino’s request that petitioner be transported for trial, the correctional institution advised that petitioner was unavailable for transport until July 2005, when his period of segregation would be complete. Petitioner was received in San Bernadino in August 14, 2005, and brought a motion to dismiss based on failure to bring to trial within the 180 days. The appellate court upheld the lower court’s denial of petitioner’s motion to dismiss, holding that “unable to stand trial,” includes those periods of delay occasioned by the defendant, and that a reasonableness standard as to the delay is to be applied to the actions of the officials in the receiving and sending states.