Opinion
3:22-cr-0002
03-17-2022
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. DEAN THOMPSON, Defendant.
ORDER
ROBERT A. MOLLOY CHIEF JUDGE
BEFORE THE COURT is the trial in this matter, currently scheduled for March 21, 2021. For the reasons stated herein, the time to try this case is extended up to and including April 25, 2022.
During the status conference held on March 16, 2022, counsel for Defendant Dean Thompson (“Defendant”) expressed that he had been unable to meet with Defendant due to a medical condition. Consequently, Defendant requests a five-week continuance in order review discovery and prepare for trial.
While the Speedy Trial Act requires that defendants be tried within seventy days of indictment, the Court specifically finds that extending this period would be in the best interest of justice. Here, an extension is necessary due to the Defendant's counsel's medical condition as stated on the record during the March 16, 2022 status conference. See United States v. Fields, 39 F.3d 439, 444 (3d Cir. 1994); United States v. Dota, 33 F.3d 1179(9th Cir. 1994) (“An ends of justice continuance may be justified on grounds that one side needs more time to prepare for trial [even if the] case [i]s not ‘complex.'”);United States v. Bush, 741 Fed.Appx. 110, 117 (3d Cir. 2018)(upholding a continuance granted to accommodate the defendant's counsel's “serious medical needs”)
The premises considered, it is hereby
ORDERED that the time beginning from the date of this order granting an extension through April 25, 2022, SHALL be excluded in computing the time within which the trial in this matter must be initiated pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161; it is further
ORDERED that the parties SHALL file and serve a pre-trial brief no later than April 18, 2022, which shall include the following: (a) proposed list of witnesses; (b) proposed list of exhibits; (c) estimated length of case-in-chief and case-in-defense; (d) proposed non-standard voir dire questions; and (e) proposed non-standard jury instructions related to the elements of the charges and defenses; it is further
ORDERED that the parties SHALL provide the Clerk of Court with a USB Flash Drive containing electronic versions of exhibits no later than April 21, 2022; and it is further
Counsel are advised to consult with Court technical staff to determine the proper format for saving electronic versions of exhibits. The Government's trial exhibits shall be labelled sequentially beginning with Government's Exhibit 1. Defense exhibits shall be labelled sequentially beginning with Defense Exhibit A.
ORDERED that the jury selection and trial in this matter SHALL commence promptly at 9:00 a.m. on April 25, 2022, in St. Thomas Courtroom 1.