The case against Billy R. Wiles, 32, who was charged with the breaking and entering of the Crown City Volunteer Fire Department in March of 2012 has been dismissed for violation of speedy trial time limits statute.
Wiles was indicted on March 15, 2012 by the Gallia County Grand Jury and charged with one count breaking and entering and one count possessing criminal tools. He was arraigned on March 19, 2012 and released on bond the same day.
Between March 21, 2012 and May 8, 2012, the defendant filed motions with the court and responded to motions filed by the State of Ohio. However, on May 22, 2012, Wiles was admitted to prison on a breaking and entering charge out of Lawrence County with a release date of March 4, 2013.
According to court records, Wiles failed to appear for his Jury Trial scheduled for July 24, 2012 due to his incarceration and a warrant was issued for his arrest and a holder was placed on him. Upon release from prison on March 4, 2013, Wiles was returned to the Gallia County Court of Common Pleas on March 6, 2013 for a bond hearing regarding the bench warrant.
The bond was continued and the defendant was released with a new jury trial scheduled for May 6, 2013, which was then rescheduled two more times. Prior to the status conference, Wiles filed an instant motion to dismiss the case based on speedy trial grounds under Ohio Revised Code 2941.401.
During the motion hearing before Gallia County Common Pleas Court Judge D. Dean Evans, Wiles submitted three exhibits to the court to prove he had attempted to avail himself of the ORC code.
The exhibits were:
* A letter from the defendant dated July 7, 2012 to the Central Office of the Department of Rehabilitation and Correction requesting a fast and speedy trial pursuant to RC 2941.401.
* What appeared to be an internal form used by the prison system, given to an inmate to be used to notify the warden of any untried, pending matter which the inmate may want resolved while in prison.
* A letter from the ODRC, dated November 2, 2012, to the Gallipolis Police Department that defendant is lodged in the Pickaway Correctional Institution and that “he may have pending/open charges with your department” and advising to please advise the correction facility if the GPD wished to place a detainer on the defendant. The letter was not addressed nor sent to the prosecutor, nor the Clerk of Courts, nor did it mention the speedy trial statute. (2941.401 RC)
According to the journal entry regarding the motion, while under ORC 2941.401, a person serving a term in prison who has a pending untried indictment, information or complaint, shall be brought to trial within 180 days of being delivered to the prosecuting attorney and the appropriate court in which the matter is pending, those incarcerated with untried criminal proceedings against them are not required to let those proceedings languish. In addition, case law is cited to uphold that a prisoner cannot be held responsible for a warden’s failure to follow mandates. Under ORC 2941.401, a request from a prisoner shall be accompanied by a certificate of the warden or superintendent having custody of the prisoner, stating term of commitment under which the prisoner is being held, the time served and remaining to be served on the sentence, the amount of good time earned, the time of parole eligibility of the prisoner and any decision of the adult parole authority relating to the prisoner.
“Although the defendant made his requisition, no such certificate accompanied the request sent to the warden. At the hearing, defendant testified that he sent exhibit A to the warden. As such, defendant did not strictly follow the statute,” wrote Judge Evans in his decision.
Evans wrote the question revolved around when the 180 day speedy trial time under ORC 2941.401 began.
Evans ruled there was no doubt a notice was not sent to the Gallia County Prosecutor’s office and the Gallia County Clerk of Courts, but was instead sent to the Gallipolis Police Department despite Wiles’ request plainly listing the correct pending case.
Following further discussion of the speedy trial time limit codes as it related to the case and a break-down of days, Judge Evans ruled, “Since the error of the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction in sending notification to the Gallipolis Police Department instead of the Gallia County Prosecuting Attorney and the Gallia County Clerk of Courts cannot be imputed to the defendant and as a result thereof, there is a violation of the speedy trial time statute, the court finds that this case against the defendant is dismissed.”