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Order Granting Renewed Joint Motion to Continue Trial [as to Joshua Edwards] — United States v. Evan Edwards (a/k/a Ian Heringa) and Joshua…

No. 6:22-cr-00201-AGM-LHP · Doc. 338 · Docket on CourtListener

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Case 6:22-cr-00201-AGM-LHP Document 338 Filed 01/21/26 Page 1 of 4 PageID 1911

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
ORLANDO DIVISION

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,

Plaintiff,
v. Case No.: 6:22-cr-00201-AGM-LHP
JOSHUA EDWARDS,

Defendant.

ORDER

THIS CAUSE comes before the Court on the parties’ Renewed Joint Motion to

Continue Trial (doc. # 337; the “Renewed Motion”) filed on January 16, 2026. Prior to the

filing of the Renewed Motion, counsel for the government and the Defendant filed a Joint

Motion to Continue trial (doc. # 319; the “Initial Motion”) on December 17, 2025. In the

Initial Motion, counsel for the government and the Defendant asserted that the United States

offered the Defendant a plea agreement, the Defendant had recently expressed a desire to

resolve the case without proceeding to trial, and, given the complexity of the case and the

needs of the Defendant, both parties required additional time to prepare for trial. (Id. at 2–3.)

The Initial Motion further stated that counsel experienced challenges in preparing for a trial

on the January 2026 trial docket due to complications with intervening holidays and efforts to

locate and prepare witnesses, some of whom reside out of the country. (Id. at 3.) The Initial

Motion represented that defense counsel did not have sufficient time to prepare the Defendant

for trial, unless the Court was available to try the case the last week in January 2026. (Id.)
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Thereafter, the Court set the case for a trial date certain in the last week of January

2026, as requested. (Doc. # 321.) The parties then filed a Third Joint Motion to Continue

Trial (doc. # 322; the “Third Motion”) on January 13, 2026. The Third Motion represented

that the AUSA assigned to the case learned that she would have an important surgery on

January 28, 2026. (Id. at 2–3.) The USAO internally reassigned this case to another AUSA

due to that surgery, and the newly-assigned AUSA then experienced the death of a close family

member and was expected to be out of the office until January 16, 2026. (Id. at 3.) The Third

Motion further stated that a case agent had been reaching out to various witnesses, most of

whom are out of state, to confirm their appearance and significant witnesses expressed

difficulty or an inability in attending the trial on the requested date in January 2026. (Id. at 3.)

Counsel represented that the parties’ efforts to resolve the case without the need for trial had

resumed, and yet ongoing difficulties with communicating with the Defendant would likely

require that a successful colloquy would take more than one attempt. (Id. at 4.) The Third

Motion was denied without prejudice (doc. # 324).

In the Renewed Motion, the parties once again request that the January 2026 trial be

continued. (Doc. # 337 at 7.) They request that the trial be moved to the April 2026 trial

term so that the Defendant may be afforded a final opportunity to resolve the case without

proceeding to trial. (Id.) In support of the Renewed Motion, counsel for the government and

the Defendant emphasize their need for the continuance and they represent that the

Defendant has expressly verbalized his desire to continue the trial date to the April 2026 trial

term so that he will have time to ultimately resolve this case with a plea. The Renewed Motion

represents that the Defendant has further expressed that he does not want to sign any

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documents without first speaking to his family. (Id. at 5–6.) On this basis, the parties requested

that the Court make an “ends of justice” finding and continue the case without the

Defendant’s written waiver of speedy trial.

“An attorney, acting without consent from his client, may waive his client’s right to a

speedy trial because ‘[s]cheduling matters are plainly among those [decisions] for which

agreement by counsel generally controls.’” Fayson v. Sec’y, Fla. Dep’t of Corr., 568 F. App’x 771,

773 (11th Cir. 2014) (quoting New York v. Hill, 528 U.S. 110, 115 (2000)). Considering the

foregoing, defense counsel’s consent to the continuance is sufficient even in the absence of a

written waiver signed by the Defendant.

Accordingly, it is now

ORDERED and ADJUDGED that:

1. The Renewed Joint Motion to Continue Trial (doc. # 337) is GRANTED;

2. For the reasons stated in the motions to continue, including that the lead AUSA

assigned to this case must have surgery; another AUSA subsequently assigned to

the case experienced a death in the family and is not expected to return to the office

with sufficient time to prepare for the trial; significant witnesses are unavailable for

a trial in the last week of January 2026; counsel require additional time to prepare

for trial; the Defendant requires additional time to consult with his family before

signing a plea agreement; failure to grant the continuance would deny the

government continuity of counsel; the parties represent that the presence of

witnesses cannot be obtained by due diligence; and failure to grant the continuance

would deny defense counsel the reasonable time necessary to effectively prepare

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for trial, the Court finds that “the ends of justice served by the granting of such

continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the Defendant in a speedy

trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A). The Court, therefore, determines that the time

from today until April 30, 2026 shall be “excludable time” pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §

3161(h);

3. This case is STRICKEN from the January 2026 trial calendar; and

4. This case is CONTINUED to the April 2026 trial term and SCHEDULED for

an in-person status conference at 11:30 a.m. on February 10, 2026 before the

undersigned in Courtroom 3B, George C. Young United States Courthouse in

Orlando, Florida.

DONE and ORDERED in Chambers this January 21, 2026.

COPIES FURNISHED TO:
Counsel of Record

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