State v. Ransom

Lockett, J.,

concurring: State v. Ransom was set for trial May 3, 1982. The 180-day limitation imposed by K.S.A. 22-3402 had not expired. On April 30, 1982, prior to the trial date, the State requested a continuance because it was unable to contact a necessary witness. The trial court granted the State a continuance; later the judge notified the parties by letter he had rescheduled the trial for June 9, 1982. The State’s necessary witness, who had received his subpoena, appeared to testify May 3, 1982.

Court dockets and trial settings are controlled by the courts. The trial judge had the choice when to set the case for trial; he alone chose June 9, 1982. The trial court’s decision to set the June 9, trial date fell within the time limitation imposed by K.S.A. 22-3402 because K.S.A. 22-3402(3)(d) allows an additional 30 days to be added to the 180-day limitation for trial. Therefore, the June 9, 1982, trial setting was not in violation of K.S.A. 22-3402.

Schroeder, C.J., dissenting: It is respectfully submitted the judgment of the trial court should be affirmed for all of the reasons stated in the original opinion filed in this case on March 31, 1983. State v. Ransom, 233 Kan. 185, 661 P.2d 392 (1983).

The only additional information submitted to the court on the rehearing of this case was the admission of the prosecuting attorney in oral argument that the essential witness upon whom the State was depending for its case, a doctor who conducted the original examination of the victim and obtained evidence for the “rape kit,” and who had been subpoenaed to appear on May 3, 1982, the date set for trial, appeared in his office pursuant to the subpoena on May 3, 1982. It was the absence of this witness, whom the prosecuting attorney considered essential and unavailable, that led to the dismissal of the original charges filed against the defendant and, after the refiling of identical charges, the subsequent continuance sought by the prosecuting attorney. Clearly, this fortifies the decision of the trial court that the State failed to bring the defendant to trial within the 180-day time limitation, and that there was no necessity for a continuance.

Prager and Holmes, JJ., join in the above dissent.