State v. Norvell

The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's conviction of aggravated assault and remanded the case for dismissal without prejudice, holding that the district court erred by denying Defendant's motion to dismiss for unnecessary delay between his arrest and initial appearance.On appeal, Defendant argued that his constitutional rights were violated when he suffered an unnecessary seventeen-day delay between his arrest and his initial appearance, justifying dismissal of the aggravated assault charge with prejudice. In response, the State argued that no unnecessary delay occurred because Defendant's initial appearance occurred the day after he was charged with aggravated assault. The Supreme Court held (1) while the charge was filed only one day before, Defendant's detention counted toward, and constituted, "unnecessary delay" in appearance under Mont. Code Ann. 46-7-101; and (2) Defendant did not experience prejudice from the delay that would require dismissal of the charge with prejudice. View "State v. Norvell" on Justia Law