IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF DELAWAR E
IN AND FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY
STATE OF DELAWARE )
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v. ) Criminal ID: 1211004440
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YOLANDA SANTIAGO )
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ORDER
This 3rd day of FEBRUARY, 2015, upon consideration of Defendant’s
Motion to Dismiss and the State’s Response, it is Ordered:
The Defendant’s Motion is DENIED.
This is a very complex case involving 16 co-defendants. The delay in this
case is not presumptively prejudicial to the Defendant. The Delaware Supreme
Court has made it clear that there is no precise time period which uniformly
triggers a speedy trial analysis, and a longer period of delay in bringing a defendant
to speedy trial can be tolerated for serious, complex charges such as murder in the
first degree and multiple conspiracies. Skinner v. State, 575 A.2d 1108, 1116 (Del.
1990). Defendant has asserted no specific facts1 which would show actual
1
Counsel refers several times in her motion to a typo listing a response date of October 22, 2015.
It appears from the docket that the information sought was turned over pursuant to a letter dated
October 22, 2014 after Counsel communicated with the State that she would oppose a two week
continuation.
prejudice. See Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530 (1972) (The Supreme Court has
identified three types of prejudice that the right to a speedy trial seeks to prevent:
(1) oppressive pre-trial incarceration; (2) anxiety stemming from being publicly
accused of a crime; and (3) the possibility that the accused’s defense will be
impaired due to the death or disappearance of witnesses or the loss of memory with
the passage of time.). Further, Defendant has asserted no harm to the presentation
of her defense. See Id. (Of the three types of prejudice considered, “the most
serious is the last, because the inability of a defendant adequately to prepare his
case skews the fairness of the entire system." See Bailey v. State, 521 A.2d 1069,
1083 (Del. 1987). Therefore, the Motion is DENIED.
IT IS SO ORDERED
/S/Calvin L. Scott
The Honorable Calvin L. Scott
Original: Prothonotary
cc: Ipek Medford, DAG
John Downs, DAG
Periann Doko, DAG
Dana L. Reynolds, Esq.