Strunk v. United States

Petitioner was convicted of a federal offense and was sentenced to a term of five years, to run concurrently with a sentence of one to three years that he was serving pursuant to a state-court conviction. Before trial, the District Court denied his motion to dismiss the federal charge on the ground that he had been denied a speedy trial. The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that he had been denied a speedy trial, but that the "extreme" remedy of dismissal of the charges was not warranted. The case was remanded to the District Court to reduce the sentence by 259 days, to compensate for the unnecessary delay that had occurred between the return of the indictment and petitioner's arraignment. The Government did not file a cross-petition for certiorari challenging the finding of denial of a speedy trial.

Held: In this case, the only question for review is the propriety of the remedy fashioned by the Court of Appeals. In light of the policies underlying the right to a speedy trial, dismissal must remain, as noted in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 522, "the only possible remedy" for deprivation of this constitutional right. Pp. 435-440.

467 F.2d 969, reversed and remanded.

BURGER, C.J., wrote the opinion for a unanimous Court.

John R. Wideikis argued the cause and filed a brief for petitioner pro hac vice.

William Bradford Reynolds argued the cause for the United States. With him on the brief were Solicitor General Griswold, Assistant Attorney General Petersen, and Jerome M. Feit.