Opinion
2:20-cr-090 MCE
06-23-2021
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. CLAYTON HOWARD, Defendant.
PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney CAMERON DESMOND Assistant United States Attorney TODD D. LERAS Attorney for Defendant CLAYTON HOWARD
PHILLIP A. TALBERT Acting United States Attorney CAMERON DESMOND Assistant United States Attorney TODD D. LERAS Attorney for Defendant CLAYTON HOWARD
STIPULATION AND ORDER CONTINUING STATUS CONFERENCE AND EXCLUDING TIME UNDER THE SPEEDY TRIAL ACT
MORRISON C. ENGLAND, JR SENIOR UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE
Plaintiff United States of America by and through Assistant United States Attorney Cameron Desmond, and Attorney Todd Leras on behalf of Defendant Clayton Howard, stipulate as follows:
1. This matter is presently set for a status conference on June 24, 2021. The defense requests to continue the status conference to August 12, 2021. The government does not oppose the request.
2. This case involves a felon in possession of ammunition charge stemming from execution of a search warrant in San Joaquin County. Defendant appeared for arraignment on the charge contained in the Indictment on July 15, 2020. The government has provided written reports related to execution of the search warrant to defense counsel as discovery materials.
3. Defense investigation of this matter has been hampered due to measures taken by federal and state authorities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, pandemic restrictions have delayed the ability of the defense to conduct in-person interviews of potential witnesses and to obtain relevant records needed to evaluate potential defenses and for purposes of mitigation in the event of a negotiated disposition. Defendant Howard therefore requests to continue this matter to August 12, 2021.
4. Defendant Howard is being held in pre-trial detention at the Sacramento County Main Jail. During most of the time since Mr. Howard's arrest in this matter, federal courthouses in the Eastern District of California have been closed to public access. General Order 631, issued on May 26, 2021, authorized judges in the district to hold public hearings, subject to masking and social distancing requirements, beginning on June 14, 2021. This development along with the general improvement in pandemic restrictions in the Sacramento region improves the defense's ability to conduct its own investigation.
5. Given the need for additional time to conduct defense investigation, Defendant Howard requests to continue the status conference in this matter to August 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., and to exclude time between June 24, 2021 and August 12, 2021, inclusive, under Local Code T-4.
6. Attorney Todd Leras represents and believes that failure to grant additional time as requested would deny Defendant Howard the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, considering the exercise of due diligence.
7. Based on the above-stated facts, Defendant Howard requests that the Court find that the ends of justice served by continuing the case as requested outweigh the best interest of the public and the Defendant in a trial within the time prescribed by the Speedy Trial Act.
8. For the purpose of computing time under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161, et seq., within which trial must commence, the time period of June 24, 2021 to August 12, 2021, inclusive, is deemed excludable pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A), and (B) (iv) [Local Code T-4] because it results from a continuance granted by the Court at Defendant Howard's request on the basis that the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the Defendant in a speedy trial.
9. Nothing in this stipulation and order shall preclude a finding that other provisions of the Speedy Trial Act dictate that additional time periods are excludable from the period within which a trial must commence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Desmond has reviewed this proposed order and authorized Todd Leras via email to sign it on her behalf.
ORDER
BASED ON THE REPRESENTATIONS AND STIPULATION OF THE PARTIES, it is hereby ordered that the status conference in this matter, scheduled for June 24, 2021, is vacated. A new status conference is scheduled for August 12, 2021, at 10:00 a.m. The Court further finds, based on the representations of the parties and Defendant Howard's request, that the ends of justice served by granting the continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the Defendant in a speedy trial. Time shall be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv) and Local Code T-4, to allow necessary attorney preparation taking into consideration the exercise of due diligence for the period from June 24, 2021, up to and including August 12, 2021.
IT IS SO ORDERED.