NCJ Number
77505
Date Published
1980
Length
47 pages
Annotation
These guidelines have been developed for the bench and the bar and for eventual inclusion in the Speedy Trial Act plan of each district court. Their purpose is to interpret provisions of the act.
Abstract
They address the scheduling of proceedings regarding arrest-indictment or information interval, arraignment, motions and setting of the trial data, notice of efforts to dispose of charges without trial, trial and retrial, and withdrawal of plea. They also comment on automatically excluded periods of delay (i.e., at mental competency or physical incapacity hearings, interlocutory appeals, and deferred prosecution), and define the categories of times which may justify a continuance. They also prescribe the starting and ending dates for computing excluded time in each category and make uniform the recording of excluded time. They suggest factors to be considered by the court in scheduling a trial date that both satisfies the purposes of the act and takes into account the legitimate needs of the parties for counsel of their choice, reasonable notice of trial, and reasonable time to prepare for trial.