U.S. v. Lopez-Cigarroa

Full title: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. TERESA LOPEZ-CIGARROA, Defendant

Court: United States District Court, D. Arizona

Date published: Jun 22, 2006

No. 06-2229M (D. Ariz. Jun. 22, 2006)

Opinion

No. 06-2229M.

June 22, 2006

ORDER

LAWRENCE ANDERSON, Magistrate Judge

HAVING considered Defendant Teresa Lopez-Cigarroa's Motion to Extend Time and good cause having been shown;

THE COURT makes the following findings:

1. The defendant's counsel was appointed to represent the defendant on June 13, 2006, and has not had sufficient time to meet with the defendant in order to discuss her case and to explain to her her options in the instant case,

2. The government has extended the defendant a plea offer that must be accepted pre-indictment and acceptance of the government's offer requires the defendant to waive various important constitutional rights,

3. Due to present counsel's recent appointment, this Court finds that he is in need of an reasonable amount of additional time in which to consult with the defendant so that she can make an informed decision regarding the Government's plea offer and her other options,

4. If the defendant decides to accept the Government's offer, a change of plea hearing is not likely to be set before the expiration of the Government's time to indict the defendant, thereby causing the defendant to lose her option of accepting the government's plea offer,

5. Neither the Government nor the defendant will be prejudiced by this Court extending the time in which to indict by the requested 30 days and the circumstances in the defendant's case create extraordinary circumstances justifying an extension of the indictment time limits;

6. The ends of justice served by this extension outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy indictment.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that defendant's Motion to Extend Time for Indictment requesting an extension of thirty (30) days within which the government may seek to indict defendant, is hereby granted.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that pursuant to the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. 3161, the Government shall have an extension of thirty (30) days to file a timely Indictment. Excludable time shall begin to run on the 31^st day after arrest for a period of thirty (30) days in which the Government may present the case to the grand jury.