The Drug Enforcement Administration’s running of a defendant’s name through the National Crime Information Center database a few times over five years without making other efforts to arrest him was a violation of his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, the Third Circuit has ruled in a split decision.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit’s decision in United States v. Velazquez overturned a district court ruling denying Sergio Velazquez’s motion to dismiss the charges against him for speedy trial violations. The Third Circuit said the length of time between the charges and arrest “crossed the threshold of prejudicial,” the government’s claims of preserving resources as a cause for not doing more to find the defendant failed and the defendant’s receipt of mail at a P.O. box wasn’t enough to show he was being evasive.
