Order Making Speedy Trial Act Findings and Resetting Case — United States v. Couch (M.D. Ala., Dkt. 211)

Summary

An Order Making Speedy Trial Act Findings and Resetting Case in United States of America v. Zsa Zsa Bouvier Couch, Case 2:21-cr-00185-KKD-CWB, Document 211, filed 08/21/23, in the District Court of the United States for the Middle District of Alabama, Northern Division. The court states that it concerns the retrial date following the June 23, 2023 mistrial and memorializes findings under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161. It finds that the time from June 23 to September 11 is excluded from the 70-day speedy trial period, and that the parties agreed to a brief continuance. The court orders the jury selection and trial, set for September 11, 2023, reset for September 25, 2023, at 10:00 a.m. in Montgomery, Alabama. It is signed /s/ Myron H. Thompson, United States District Judge.

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   Case 2:21-cr-00185-KKD-CWB Document 211 Filed 08/21/23 Page 1 of 4



  IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE UNITED STATES FOR THE

        MIDDLE DISTRICT OF ALABAMA, NORTHERN DIVISION


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA           )
                                   )      CRIMINAL ACTION NO.
        v.                         )         2:21cr185-MHT
                                   )              (WO)
ZSA ZSA BOUVIER COUCH              )

             ORDER MAKING SPEEDY TRIAL ACT FINDINGS
                       AND RESETTING CASE

    This case is before the court regarding the date for

the retrial following the June 23, 2023, mistrial.                Based

on the representations made by counsel on the record on

June 23, 2023, the court reset the jury selection and

retrial of this case for September 11, 2023, at 10:00

a.m. in Courtroom 2FMJ of the Frank M. Johnson, Jr. United

States Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery,

Alabama.       This order memorializes the court’s findings

under    the   Speedy   Trial    Act,    18   U.S.C.    § 3161.         In

addition, based on the representations made during a

status conference on the record on August 18, 2023, the

court will continue the trial of this matter to September

25, 2023.
   Case 2:21-cr-00185-KKD-CWB Document 211 Filed 08/21/23 Page 2 of 4




    While the granting of a continuance is left to the

sound discretion of the trial judge, see United States

v. Stitzer, 785 F.2d 1506, 1516 (11th Cir. 1986), the

court is limited by the requirements of the Speedy Trial

Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161.        The Act provides in part:

    If the defendant is to be tried again following
    a declaration by the trial judge of a mistrial
    or following an order of such judge for a new
    trial, the trial shall commence within seventy
    days from the date the action occasioning the
    retrial becomes final.

§ 3161(e).     Here, a mistrial was declared on June 23,

2023.   Without an exclusion, the retrial would have to

commence by September 1, 2023.

    The Speedy Trial Act excludes from the 70-day period

any period of delay resulting from a continuance based

on “findings that the ends of justice served by taking

such action outweigh the best interest of the public and

the defendant in a speedy trial.”            § 3161(h)(7)(A).*          In




    * The Act makes clear that “[t]he periods of delay
enumerated in section 3161(h) are excluded in computing
the time limitations” when a retrial is to occur after a
mistrial, not solely when a case is first set for trial.
18 U.S.C. § 3161(e).
                           2
   Case 2:21-cr-00185-KKD-CWB Document 211 Filed 08/21/23 Page 3 of 4




granting a continuance under subsection (h)(7)(A), the

court may consider, among other factors, whether the

failure to grant the continuance “would be likely to ...

result in a miscarriage of justice,” § 3161(h)(7)(B)(i),

or “would deny counsel for the defendant or the attorney

for the Government the reasonable time necessary for

effective preparation, taking into account the exercise

of due diligence,” § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).

    The court concluded that, in this case, the ends of

justice served by granting a continuance outweighed the

interest of the public and Couch in a speedy trial.

Couch’s   attorney     represented      that   she    had   a   serious

medical issue that required major surgery, and she had

already postponed the surgery until after the initial

trial of this case. She was scheduled to have the surgery

done in July 2023, and needed a significant period of

recuperation after the surgery before returning to the

practice of law.       Given these circumstances, she would

not be ready to retry the case until the court’s September

11, 2023, trial term.           The court found a continuance


                                   3
      Case 2:21-cr-00185-KKD-CWB Document 211 Filed 08/21/23 Page 4 of 4




until September 11, 2023, necessary to allow defense

counsel      sufficient       time     to    recuperate     and    prepare

effectively to retry the case.               Therefore, the time from

June 23 to September 11 is excluded from the 70-day speedy

trial period.

       During the on-the-record status conference on August

18,     2023,    the    court     proposed     moving     the     trial    to

September 25, 2023.          As both parties agreed to the brief

continuance, and the 70-day period has not expired, the

court will reset the trial for that date.

                                      ***

       Accordingly, it is ORDERED that the jury selection

and trial, now set for September 11, 2023, are reset for

September 25, 2023, at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom 2FMJ of

the    Frank     M.    Johnson,      Jr.    United   States     Courthouse

Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama.

       DONE, this the 21st day of August, 2023.

                                        /s/ Myron H. Thompson
                                     UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE




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