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United States v. Orozco

United States District Court, S.D. California
Jun 19, 2008
CASE NO. 07CR658 WQH (S.D. Cal. Jun. 19, 2008)

Opinion

CASE NO. 07CR659 WQH.

June 19, 2008


ORDER


In the matter before the Court, Defendant Jhon Jairo Orozco moves the Court to declare this case complex and exclude time pursuant to Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii). (Doc. # 51).

Section 3161(h)(8)(A) provides that the Court may exclude any period of delay resulting from a continuance "if the judge granted the continuance on the basis of his findings that the ends of justice served by taking such action outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial." Factors which a judge shall consider in determining whether to grant a continuance under subparagraph (A) include "[w]hether the case is so unusual or so complex, due to the number of defendants, the nature of the prosecution, or the existence of novel questions of fact or law, that it is unreasonable to expect adequate preparation for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself within the time limits established . . ." Section 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii). "[N]o continuance period may be excluded unless the court makes reasonably explicit findings that demonstrate that the ends of justice served by granting the continuance do, in fact, outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial." United States v. Perez-Reveles, 715 F.2d 1348, 1352 (9th Cir. 1983).

Based upon the complex nature of this proceedings which involves multiple defendants from several countries, defendants named in multiple prosecutions, and a very large volume of discovery, the Court concludes that it would be unreasonable to expect defense counsel to be able to adequately prepare for pretrial proceedings or for the trial itself within the time limits established under Section 3161, et seq., taking into account the exercise of due diligence. The discovery in this case which results from an investigation involving hundreds of potential targets from several countries includes thousands of pages of documents, over one hundred compact disks containing thousands of pages of line sheets and hundreds of intercepted phone calls in Spanish, as well as multiple DVD's of video surveillance. The Court concludes that the ends of justice served by a continuance outweighs the best interest of the public and the Defendants in a speedy trial. Based upon the finding of complexity, the court will exclude the period of time between May 24, 2008 to August 4, 2008 in order to allow all defense counsel an opportunity to review and organize the volumnious discovery, to conduct the required investigation, and to effectively prepare pretrial motions.

IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that the motion to declare this case complex and exclude time pursuant to Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(B)(ii) filed by Defendant Jhon Jairo Orozco (Doc. # 51) is granted.

IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that a period of excludable delay from May 24, 2008 to August 4, 2008 is allowed pursuant to Section 3161(h)(8), in addition to any time excludable pursuant to Section 3161(h)(1)(F). This period of excludable delay applies to all defendants in this case pursuant to Section 3161(h)(7). A further hearing is scheduled in this matter for Monday, August 4, 2008 at 2 p.m.


Summaries of

United States v. Orozco

United States District Court, S.D. California
Jun 19, 2008
CASE NO. 07CR658 WQH (S.D. Cal. Jun. 19, 2008)
Case details for

United States v. Orozco

Case Details

Full title:UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, Plaintiff, v. JHON JAIRO OROZCO, et al.…

Court:United States District Court, S.D. California

Date published: Jun 19, 2008

Citations

CASE NO. 07CR658 WQH (S.D. Cal. Jun. 19, 2008)