Seventh Circuit on Speedy Trial, Prosecutor Misconduct and Statute of Limitations

In United States v. Hills, 618 F.3d 619 (7th Cir. 2010), here, the Seventh Circuit addressed many common defendant arguments for reversal of their convictions and, for the most part, rejected them on grounds familiar to practitioners. The opinion is 45 pages long so I pick out only a few items that I think worthy of calling to the attention of readers.

1. Speedy Trial. The court rejected arguments that the statutory and constitutional rights to speedy trial had been violated. During the pre-trial phase, the attorney for one of the defendants made a strategic decision that he needed more time to prepare for trial even though his client did not want him to seek a continuance.

Notwithstanding [his client's] position, however, [the attorney] thought it best to continue the trial. [The attorney] told the district court that he had explained to [his client] that seeking a continuance was within his discretion as an attorney, and that he believed it was in [his client's] best interests to have the trial continued.

The other defense attorneys also were not ready for trial, so the court continued the case. The court of appeals ultimately sustained that continuance under the speedy trial analysis. In doing go, the court said (Some text, quotation marks and case citations omitted for readability):