Opinion
Cause No. 03 CR 11
April 23, 2003
MEMORANDUM
On April 11, 2003, defendant Hale filed an agreed motion to continue the trial date of July 14, 2003. At a hearing held on April 17, 2003, to address another issue, the court confirmed that the government had no objection and advised the parties that the motion was granted. This memorandum sets out the court's reasons for granting the motion.
In the motion, defendant Hale advised that his lead defense counsel, Thomas Durkin, will be hosting and of course attending the wedding of his eldest daughter on July 12, 2003, two days before the trial date, and will be preoccupied by many family obligations in the preceding week. The wedding has been scheduled on that date for over a year.
In addition, the court sua sponte observes that due to issues arising from special administrative measures instituted pursuant to 28 C.F.R. § 501.3, defendant Hale was unable to have any private consultation with his defense attorneys from March 3, 2003, until April 22, 2003. The inability to consult towards preparation of a defense has already caused defense counsel to seek an extension of time to prepare and file pretrial motions, which was granted, and obviously impacts the ability to adequately prepare for the original July 14, 2003, trial date.
Other than a brief in-court consultation.
Under all of the circumstances, failing to grant the requested continuance would deny defense counsel the reasonable time necessary for adequate preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence. Thus, the court finds that the ends of are served by granting this continuance and outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.
As the parties were previously advised, the new trial date is Monday, September 22, 2003, at 9:00 a.m., in the Dirksen Building, Chicago, Illinois, courtroom to be assigned.