People v. Perez4/12/1991
COURT OF APPEAL OF CALIFORNIA, SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT, DIVISION FOUR
No. B044806
1991.CA.40977 ; 279 Cal. Rptr. 915; 229 Cal. App. 3d 302
April 12, 1991
THE PEOPLE, PLAINTIFF AND APPELLANT,
v.
JULIO CESTERO PEREZ, DEFENDANT AND RESPONDENT
Superior Court of Los Angeles County, No. A 345700, Judith C. Chirlin, Judge.
Ira Reiner, District Attorney, Arnold T. Guminski and George M. Palmer, Deputy District Attorneys, for Plaintiff and Appellant.
Michael J. Udovic, under appointment by the Court of Appeal, for Defendant and Respondent.
Opinion by George, J., with Epstein, J., concurring. Separate dissenting opinion by Woods (a. M.), P. J.
George
More than eight and a half years elapsed between the filing of an indictment, charging defendant with murder and conspiracy to
commit murder, and defendant's arrest. During the intervening period, defendant was a fugitive living in Venezuela. The People appeal from an order dismissing the charges on the ground defendant was denied a speedy trial as guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution. For the reasons that follow, we conclude defendant waived his right to speedy trial and reverse the order of dismissal.
Procedural and Factual History
On September 13, 1978, an indictment was filed charging defendant and codefendants Jaime Vila and David Lopez with the murders of Ralph Dennis and Joni Scruggs (Pen. Code, § 187, subd. (a)) and conspiracy to commit murder (Pen. Code, § 182, subd. (a)(1)). Over eight and a half years later, on April 27, 1987, defendant was arrested in Venezuela, was expelled from that country and flown to the United States, and appeared in superior court on May 22, 1987.
On October 21, 1988, defendant filed a written motion to dismiss the present charges, asserting he had been denied a speedy trial. In a declaration attached to the motion, defendant stated that on September 19, 1978, six days after the indictment in the present case was filed, he was arrested on unrelated federal narcotics charges by agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration at his home in Puerto Rico. He appeared before the United States District Court in Puerto Rico that day, was released on his own recognizance, and was ordered to return to court the next day. In defendant's words: "I did not return to court. After hiding out in Puerto Rico for a few days I travelled to Venezuela . . . . [para.] Shortly after arriving in Venezuela, I wrote to my wife in Puerto Rico. I used a false name and return address on the envelope . . . ."
Defendant's declaration further states that on April 27, 1987, he was arrested by Venezuelan police officers at the American Embassy while attempting to renew his passport, and that three days later, he was driven to the airport, released to the custody of the United States Marshal's Service, and flown to Miami, Florida.
At a hearing held January 13, 1989, on defendant's motion to dismiss, Special Agent Saverio Weidel of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration testified that on September 18, 1978, he arrested defendant in San Juan, Puerto Rico, pursuant to an arrest warrant arising from federal narcotics charges. Defendant appeared before a federal district court judge
and was arraigned t
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