Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals - Published Opinions

Thursday, May 29, 2008

Young: Superseding Indictment Violates Speedy Trial Act

In U.S. v. Young, No. 07-13626 (May 27, 2008), the Court held that one count of conviction should have been dismissed (with or without prejudice) for violation of the Speedy Trial Act.
The government initially indicted Young on a single count for possessing an unregistered silencer. Two months later, the government filed a five-count superseding indictment, which included the original silencer count and four additional, unrelated drug counts. Prior to trial, Young moved to dismiss the silencer count on Speedy Trial grounds, because more than seventy days had passed since his original indictment.
The Court held that the silencer count should have been dismissed on Speedy Trial grounds. The Court noted that the situation where a supervising indictment is filed is analogous to the dismissal of an indictment followed by a new indictment – a situation squarely covered by the Speedy Trial Act. The Court therefore remanded the case to the district court to determine the appropriate form of dismissal of the silencer count.