People v. Swafford

                                                                            Michigan Supreme Court
                                                                                  Lansing, Michigan
                                                     Chief Justice:           Justices:



Opinion                                              Marilyn Kelly            Michael F. Cavanagh
                                                                              Elizabeth A. Weaver
                                                                              Maura D. Corrigan
                                                                              Robert P. Young, Jr.
                                                                              Stephen J. Markman
                                                                              Diane M. Hathaway




                                                              FILED MARCH 18, 2009

 PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN,

               Plaintiff-Appellee,

 v                                                                    No. 136751

 KOBEAY QURAN SWAFFORD,

               Defendant-Appellant.


 BEFORE THE ENTIRE BENCH

 MARKMAN, J.

        We granted leave to appeal in this case to consider whether the Interstate

 Agreement on Detainers (IAD), MCL 780.601, requires that a detainer be lodged

 at the institution where the defendant is incarcerated, and, if so, whether there was

 sufficient evidence in this case that the detainer was properly lodged. The trial

 court granted defendant’s motion to dismiss the charges with prejudice as a result

 of the prosecutor’s failure to bring defendant to trial within 180 days of receiving

 defendant’s request for a final disposition, in violation of Article III(a) of the IAD.

 The Court of Appeals reversed, holding that the IAD is not applicable because the

 prosecutor lodged the detainer against the defendant with the United States



                                           1
Marshals rather than the federal prison in which defendant was incarcerated.

However, there is no language in the IAD that indicates that it is only applicable

when the detainer was originally lodged with the institution in which the defendant

is incarcerated, and in this case it is undisputed that the institution in which

defendant was incarcerated received the detainer. The clear language of the IAD

states that if a “detainer has been lodged against the prisoner,” and the prosecutor

fails to bring a defendant to trial within 180 days of receiving the defendant’s

request for a final disposition made while the defendant is serving a term of

imprisonment, the court “shall enter an order dismissing the [complaint] with

prejudice,” MCL 780.601 (emphasis added). That is precisely what happened in

this case. Therefore, we have no choice but to reverse the Court of Appeals and

reinstate the trial court’s order dismissing the charges with prejudice. However

harsh and inflexible a remedy for failure to comply with the IAD this may be

adjudged, it is plainly what our Legislature requires.

                       I. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

       Defendant was charged in Michigan with first-degree murder, assault with

intent to commit murder, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a

felony. He was subsequently arrested on an unrelated federal bank robbery charge

in Tennessee.     On June 1, 2004, the Wayne County Prosecutor’s Office

(hereinafter referred to as “the prosecutor”) sent a written detainer against

defendant to the U.S. Marshals in Tennessee. Defendant pleaded guilty to the

federal charges and was sentenced to federal prison on November 19, 2004. On


                                          2
March 2, 2005, the federal prison authorities where defendant was imprisoned

(hereinafter referred to as “the Bureau of Prisons”) verified the detainer that was

lodged against defendant with the prosecutor.1 The Bureau of Prisons provided

the prosecutor and the court clerk with notice of defendant’s request for

disposition of the Michigan charges.2 This notice was received by the prosecutor

and the court clerk on March 7, 2005.3 On June 15, 2005, the prosecutor signed an


       1
         In a correspondence with defendant, a prison official stated, “I verified the
request to lodge a detainer . . . .” Stamped on a copy of the letter that
accompanied the detainer is a notation dated March 2, 2005, indicating that the
detainer was verified with a paralegal in the Wayne County Prosecutor’s
extradition unit.
       2
           This notice states:
              The above named defendant is requesting disposition on the
       outstanding charges you have filed against him as a detainer . . . .
       An inmate requesting disposition of detainers in accordance with
       Article III of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act must be
       brought to trial within 180 days of your receipt of this request.
At the same time, the Bureau of Prisons also submitted a document to the
prosecutor that provides, “A detainer has been filed against this subject in your
favor for: 1st Degree Murder, we will again notify you approximately 60 days
prior to actual release.” On June 4, 2005, the Bureau of Prisons sent a letter to the
prosecutor that provides:
              The above named inmate has requested disposition on
       outstanding charges which were filed against him as a detainer . . . .
       As you know, once an inmate requests disposition under the IAD
       they must be brought to trial within 180 days of your receipt of the
       request. Ninety of the allotted 180 days elapsed effective June 25,
       2005.
       3
        Fex v Michigan, 507 US 43, 52; 113 S Ct 1085; 122 L Ed 2d 406 (1993),
provides that the IAD’s 180-day time limit begins running when the prosecutor
receives the defendant’s request for trial.



                                          3
“Agreement on Detainers” that states, “I propose to bring this person to trial on the

indictment, information or complaint named in the offer within the time specified

in Article III(a) of the Agreement on Detainers.”4 However, defendant was not

arraigned in Michigan until October 6, 2005, which everybody agrees was more

than 180 days after the prosecutor received defendant’s request for a final

disposition.

       Defendant then filed a motion to dismiss the charges on the ground that the

prosecutor had failed to bring him to trial within 180 days of receiving defendant’s

request for a final disposition in violation of Article III(a) of the IAD, MCL

780.601. The trial court granted this motion and dismissed the charges with


       4
         At the top of this form, it states, “This form should only be used when an
offer of temporary custody has been received as the result of a prisoner’s request
for disposition of a detainer.” This form also indicates that it was “[i]n response to
[the Bureau of Prisons’] letter of March 2, 2005.” On September 16, 2005, when
the prosecutor failed to bring defendant to trial within 180 days, the Bureau of
Prisons sent the prosecutor a letter stating:
               The above named inmate requested disposition of the
       outstanding charges that you have filed against him as a detainer on
       03-02-2005. Under Article III of the Interstate Agreement on
       Detainers, an inmate must be brought to trial within 180 days after
       he requests disposition and the forms are received by the appropriate
       officials. Our records indicate the forms required under the
       provisions of the IAD were received and signed for by your office
       on 03-07-2005. . . . Since 180 days have elapsed since you received
       this request for disposition, we have advised, by copy of this letter to
       the inmate, that he may petition the appropriate court for dismissal
       of the outstanding charges.
Finally, the Bureau of Prisons’ “Release Authorization” indicates a “Release
Date” of “10-05-05”; under the word “Method” appear the initials “IAD”; and
after “Detainer,” the “Yes” box is checked.


                                          4
prejudice. The prosecutor appealed, and the Court of Appeals reversed, holding

that the IAD does not apply because defendant was not serving a term of

imprisonment when the detainer was lodged against him. People v Swafford,

unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued March 27, 2007

(Docket No. 268499) (Swafford I).

       Defendant filed a timely application for leave to appeal in this Court. We

vacated the Court of Appeals judgment and remanded the case to that court for

reconsideration in light of the documentation that defendant had attached to his

application for leave to appeal in this Court. People v Swafford, 480 Mich 881

(2007).5




       5
        In a concurring statement, Justice Corrigan raised specific questions for
the Court of Appeals to address. Specifically, she asked:

             (1) Was the panel correct that People v Monasterski, 105
       Mich App 645 (1981), and People v Wilden (On Rehearing), 197
       Mich App 533 (1992), hold that “a detainer filed against a jail
       inmate before he begins serving a prison sentence is insufficient to
       implicate the IAD,” and, if so, (2) are the holdings in Monasterski
       and Wilden consistent with the language of article III of the IAD?

After the Court of Appeals rendered its first decision, but before this Court vacated
that decision, defendant was brought to trial, convicted as charged, and sentenced
to life in prison. Defendant should not have been brought to trial at that time. The
Court of Appeals decision reversing the trial court’s dismissal of charges and
remanding the case for trial had not taken effect, because defendant had filed a
timely appeal to this Court. MCR 7.215(F)(1)(a). Moreover, during the pendency
of a timely appeal to this Court, a Court of Appeals decision remanding to a lower
court for further proceedings is automatically stayed, unless the Court of Appeals
or this Court orders otherwise. MCR 7.302(C)(5). Neither this Court nor the
Court of Appeals ordered further proceedings to begin notwithstanding


                                         5
      On remand, the Court of Appeals, in a split decision, again reversed the

trial court’s dismissal of the charges, holding that the IAD did not apply because

the prosecutor had not delivered the detainer to the institution in which defendant

was serving his sentence, i.e., the Bureau of Prisons. People v Swafford (On

Remand), unpublished opinion per curiam of the Court of Appeals, issued March

18, 2008 (Docket No. 268499) (Swafford II). However, the dissenting judge

concluded that

      the correspondence sent by the prosecutor’s office to the United
      States Marshall on June 1, 2004 . . . became a valid detainer for
      purposes of the IAD no later than March 2, 2005, when it
      accompanied defendant to federal prison, was verified, and the
      prosecutor was notified that defendant was requesting disposition on
      the outstanding charges filed against him. [Id. at 1 (Zahra, J.,
      dissenting).]

Defendant again filed an application for leave to appeal in this Court, and this

time, we granted defendant’s application for leave to appeal. People v Swafford,

482 Mich 1015 (2008).

                             II. STANDARD OF REVIEW

      This case involves the interpretation of the Interstate Agreement on

Detainers Act, MCL 780.601. Questions of statutory interpretation are questions

of law that this Court reviews de novo. People v Osantowski, 481 Mich 103, 107;

748 NW2d 799 (2008).




defendant’s timely appeal. Accordingly, the trial court did not have proper
jurisdiction to bring defendant to trial or convict defendant.


                                        6
                                      III. ANALYSIS

       “Forty-eight States, [including Michigan,] the Federal Government, and the

District of Columbia . . . have entered into the Interstate Agreement on Detainers .

. . .” Alabama v Bozeman, 533 US 146, 148; 121 S Ct 2079; 150 L Ed 2d 188

(2001).    The IAD “creates uniform procedures for lodging and executing a

detainer, i.e., a legal order that requires a State in which an individual is currently

imprisoned to hold that individual when he has finished serving his sentence so

that he may be tried by a different State for a different crime.” Id.6 Article I of the

IAD indicates that its purpose is to “encourage the expeditious and orderly

disposition” of “charges outstanding against . . . prisoner[s].”      MCL 780.601.

Article III(a) of the IAD provides, in pertinent part:

              Whenever a person has entered upon a term of imprisonment
       in a penal or correctional institution of a party state, and whenever
       during the continuance of the term of imprisonment there is pending
       in any other party state any untried indictment, information or
       complaint on the basis of which a detainer has been lodged against
       the prisoner, he shall be brought to trial within one hundred eighty
       days after he shall have caused to be delivered to the prosecuting
       officer and the appropriate court of the prosecuting officers’
       jurisdiction written notice of the place of his imprisonment and his
       request for a final disposition to be made of the indictment,
       information or complaint . . . . [Id.]

Article V(c) of the IAD states, in relevant part:

             [I]n the event that an action on the indictment, information or
       complaint on the basis of which the detainer has been lodged is not

       6
       Article II(a) of the IAD defines “state” to include “the United States of
America.” MCL 780.601.



                                          7
       brought to trial within the period provided in Article III . . . , the
       appropriate court of the jurisdiction where the indictment,
       information or complaint has been pending shall enter an order
       dismissing the same with prejudice, and any detainer based thereon
       shall cease to be of any force or effect. [Id.]

       In this case, the Wayne County Prosecutor lodged a detainer against

defendant, and while defendant was serving a term of imprisonment at a federal

institution, defendant made a written request with the prosecutor for a final

disposition of the pending Michigan charges. Thereafter, the prosecutor failed to

bring defendant to trial within 180 days as is required by Article III(a) of the IAD.

Article V(c) of the IAD, MCL 780.601, states that if a trial is not brought within

the period provided in Article III(a), “the . . . court . . . shall enter an order

dismissing the [complaint] with prejudice . . . .” (Emphasis added.) Therefore, the

trial court in this case properly dismissed the charges with prejudice.

       In its first opinion, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court on the basis

that the IAD was not applicable because defendant was not serving a term of

imprisonment when the prosecutor lodged the detainer against him. However, the

IAD does not require that the detainer be lodged while the defendant is serving a

term of imprisonment. Instead, Article III(a) requires that “during the continuance

of the term of imprisonment,” a charge must be “pending . . . on the basis of which

a detainer has been lodged.” (Emphasis added.) The Legislature’s use of the

passive voice makes when the detainer was lodged irrelevant as long as it was

lodged before the defendant requested a final disposition.           Furthermore, “a

detainer remains lodged against a prisoner without any action being taken on it.”


                                          8
People v McLemore, 411 Mich 691, 692 n 2; 311 NW2d 720 (1981) (citation and

quotation marks omitted; emphasis added). See also United States v Mauro, 436

US 340, 360; 98 S Ct 1834; 56 L Ed 2d 329 (1978). Therefore, the IAD applies as

long as a “detainer has been lodged against the [defendant],” and the defendant,

while serving a term of imprisonment in one party state, has charges pending

against him in another party state, and causes a written request for a final

disposition to be delivered to the prosecutor and the court. Upon receiving that

request, the prosecutor must bring the defendant to trial within 180 days. That is,

although the defendant must be serving a term of imprisonment when the out-of-

state charges are pending and when he files a request for a final disposition, the

defendant does not have to be serving a term of imprisonment when the detainer is

first lodged. Because a detainer had been lodged against defendant, and because

he was serving a term of imprisonment when he requested a final disposition on

the pending out-of-state charges, the prosecutor was required to bring defendant to

trial within 180 days of receiving defendant’s request for trial.

       As discussed earlier, this Court vacated that Court of Appeals judgment and

remanded the case to the Court of Appeals for consideration of defendant’s

documentation. On remand, the Court of Appeals again reversed the trial court’s

dismissal of the charges. However, this time it did so on a different rationale. The

Court of Appeals correctly recognized that the two cases that it had previously

relied upon-- People v Monasterski, 105 Mich App 645; 307 NW2d 394 (1981),

and People v Wilden (On Rehearing), 197 Mich App 533; 496 NW2d 801 (1992)--


                                          9
are readily distinguishable from the instant case.7 It further recognized that if the

prosecutor in this case had sent the detainer to the Bureau of Prisons, “the fact that

the prosecutor lodged the detainer before defendant was imprisoned would be

irrelevant” and “we would be compelled to find that the provisions of the IAD




       7
         In Monasterski, the defendants argued that the IAD had been violated
because their trial was not commenced within 120 days of their arrival in
Michigan, as required by Article IV(c) of the IAD. However, the Court of
Appeals held that because the defendants never began serving terms of
imprisonment in Indiana (they were simply held in a county jail in Indiana
pending extradition), the IAD was not even applicable. Monasterski, 105 Mich
App at 653. In Wilden, the defendant argued that his return to a federal
correctional facility on September 21, 1990, before trial, violated the IAD because
Article IV(e) of the IAD provides that
       [i]f trial is not had on any . . . complaint . . . prior to the prisoner’s
       being returned to the original place of imprisonment . . . such . . .
       complaint shall not be of any further force or effect, and the court
       shall enter an order dismissing the same with prejudice. [MCL
       780.601.]
However, the Court of Appeals held that because the defendant had not “entered
upon a term of imprisonment” as of September 21, 1990, the IAD was not even
applicable. Wilden, 197 Mich App at 539. Moreover, the Court of Appeals in
Wilden recognized that the prosecutor had lodged detainers against the defendant.
Id. at 538. This recognition undercuts the prosecutor’s argument in the instant
case that communications sent before a prisoner begins a term of imprisonment are
not detainers.

       Unlike Monasterski and Wilden, the instant case involves Article III(a) of
the IAD, which provides that when a defendant is serving a term of imprisonment
in one state and another state has lodged a detainer against the defendant, the latter
state has 180 days to bring the defendant to trial after it receives the defendant’s
written request for a final disposition of the outstanding charges. And, unlike the
defendants in Monasterski and Wilden, the defendant in the instant case had begun
to serve a term of imprisonment in the federal prison on the critical date, i.e., when
defendant requested a final disposition of the outstanding charges.



                                          10
were violated and that the convictions against defendant must be vacated.”

Swafford II, supra at 5.

       However, the Court of Appeals concluded that because the prosecutor never

sent a detainer directly to the Bureau of Prisons, where defendant was serving his

sentence, no valid detainer under the IAD was ever filed. It explained that,

although the IAD does not define the term “detainer,” several cases have defined

the term “detainer” as a “‘notification filed with the institution in which a prisoner

is serving a sentence . . . .’” McLemore, 411 Mich at 692 n 2, quoting Mauro, 436

US at 359 (quotation marks omitted). The Court of Appeals held that because the

prosecutor sent the detainer to the U.S. Marshals rather than the Bureau of Prisons,

the detainer was not valid, and, thus, the IAD did not apply.

       The dissenting judge, on the other hand, recognized that,

       [a]lthough the June 1, 2004, correspondence was filed with the U.S.
       Marshal before defendant was imprisoned, it is without dispute that
       the correspondence followed defendant to federal prison, where a
       federal prison official verified “the request to lodge a detainer,” the
       prosecutor’s office caused the clerk of the court to certify the
       warrant and complaint, and the federal prison official subsequently
       sent the prosecutor a letter stating that “[a] detainer has been filed
       against this subject in your favor.” [Swafford II, supra at 1 (Zahra,
       J., dissenting) (citation omitted).]

The dissenting judge emphasized that the “federal institution in which defendant

was imprisoned regarded the detainer as lodged once it was verified, as evidenced

by the sending of the detainer letter” and “the prosecutor’s conduct supports the

conclusion that [she] also viewed the detainer as being properly lodged,” because

“the prosecutor ultimately filed all the documents that would be consistent with


                                         11
the understanding that an IAD detainer had been lodged with the federal prison.”

Id. at 1-2. Accordingly, the dissent concluded that the detainer had been properly

lodged with the Bureau of Prisons and that the IAD was violated when defendant

was not brought to trial within 180 days.

       We agree with the dissenting judge. Contrary to the conclusion of the

Court of Appeals majority, there is no requirement in the IAD that the prosecutor

initially file the detainer with the institution in which the prisoner is serving his

sentence. Article III(a) simply states that it is applicable where “a detainer has

been lodged against the prisoner.” MCL 780.601. There is no language in the

IAD that requires the prosecutor to initially lodge the detainer with any specific

institution. Although caselaw generally describes a detainer as a “‘notification

filed with the institution in which a prisoner is serving a sentence,’” McLemore,

411 Mich at 692 n 2, quoting Mauro, 436 US at 359, these descriptions are merely

meant to provide guidance on the meaning of “detainer” in the absence of a

statutory definition. These cases do not support the proposition that a detainer that

the prosecutor initially filed with another institution, i.e., the U.S. Marshals, but

which nevertheless reaches the institution in which the prisoner is serving his

sentence, is not a valid detainer for purposes of the IAD.8 Further, as discussed


       8
         The question at issue in both McLemore and Mauro was whether a writ of
habeas corpus constitutes a detainer for purposes of the IAD. Further, McLemore,
on which the prosecutor relies because it states that a detainer is a “‘notification
filed with the institution in which a prisoner is serving sentence,’” McLemore, 411
Mich at 692 n 2, quoting Mauro, 436 US at 359, also states that “the provisions of


                                         12
earlier, nothing in the actual language of the IAD requires the prosecutor to

initially file the detainer with the institution in which the defendant is serving his

sentence.   Instead, Article III(a) simply requires the prosecutor to bring the

defendant to trial within 180 days when “a detainer has been lodged against the

prisoner” and, while serving a term of imprisonment, the defendant causes to be

delivered to the prosecutor and the court a written request for a final disposition.

In this case, (1) “a detainer [had] been lodged against [defendant],” and (2) while

he was serving a term of imprisonment, defendant caused to be delivered to the

prosecutor and the court a written request for a final disposition. Therefore, the

IAD was breached when defendant was not brought to trial within 180 days.9

       Finally, the facts of this case make it clear that both parties invoked the

IAD for purposes of bringing defendant to trial.          The institution in which

defendant was serving his sentence received the prosecutor’s detainer, the


the [IAD] apply if a participating jurisdiction which has untried charges against a
prisoner lodges a detainer with the jurisdiction where the prisoner is incarcerated .
. . .” Id. at 694, citing Mauro (emphasis added). In the instant case, there is no
question that the prosecutor lodged a detainer with the jurisdiction in which
defendant was incarcerated when it lodged the detainer with the U.S. Marshals and
where defendant was incarcerated in a federal prison.
       9
          The Court of Appeals noted that “the parties provide only scant
information indicating how the Bureau of Prisons received notification that
defendant had outstanding criminal charges in Michigan.” Swafford II, supra at 8
(emphasis added). However, how the Bureau received notice is not particularly
relevant. All that is relevant for purposes of the IAD is that the Bureau received
notice and passed it on to defendant, who, while serving a term of imprisonment,
then filed a written request for a final disposition with the prosecutor and the
court.



                                         13
institution confirmed the detainer with the prosecutor, the prosecutor expressly

agreed to bring defendant to trial within 180 days of receiving defendant’s request

for trial as is required by Article III(a), and the prosecutor obtained custody of

defendant through the IAD. In a correspondence with defendant, a federal prison

official stated, “I verified the request to lodge a detainer . . . .” Stamped on the

letter that accompanied the June 1, 2004, detainer is a notation dated March 2,

2005, indicating that a federal prison official verified the detainer against

defendant with the extradition unit of the Wayne County Prosecutor. The Bureau

of Prisons further provided the prosecutor and the court clerk with notice of

defendant’s request for a final disposition of the Michigan charges that stated:

               The above named defendant is requesting disposition on the
       outstanding charges you have filed against him as a detainer. . . . An
       inmate requesting disposition of detainers in accordance with Article
       III of the Interstate Agreement on Detainers Act must be brought to
       trial within 180 days of your receipt of this request.

It is undisputed that the prosecutor received this notice on March 7, 2005. The

Bureau of Prisons also submitted a document to the prosecutor that provides, “A

detainer has been filed against this subject in your favor for: 1st Degree Murder,

we will again notify you approximately 60 days prior to actual release.”

Subsequently, the Bureau of Prisons sent a letter to the prosecutor that stated:

              The above named inmate has requested disposition on
       outstanding charges which were filed against him as a detainer. . . .
       As you know, once an inmate requests disposition under the IAD
       they must be brought to trial within 180 days of your receipt of the
       request. Ninety of the allotted 180 days elapsed effective June 25,
       2005.



                                         14
In response, the prosecutor signed an “Agreement on Detainers” that states, “I

propose to bring this person to trial on the indictment, information or complaint

named in the offer within the time specified in Article III(a) of the Agreement on

Detainers.” This agreement also states that “[t]his form should only be used when

an offer of temporary custody has been received as the result of a prisoner’s

request for disposition of a detainer” and that “[this form is] in response to [the

Bureau of Prisons’] letter of March 2, 2005.” When the prosecutor failed to bring

defendant to trial within 180 days, the Bureau of Prisons sent the prosecutor a

letter stating:

               The above named inmate requested disposition of the
       outstanding charges that you have filed against him as a detainer on
       03-02-2005. Under Article III of the Interstate Agreement on
       Detainers, an inmate must be brought to trial within 180 days after
       he requests disposition and the forms are received by the appropriate
       officials. Our records indicate the forms required under the
       provisions of the IAD were received and signed for by your office
       on 03-07-2005. . . . Since 180 days have elapsed since you received
       this request for disposition, we have advised, by copy of this letter to
       the inmate, that he may petition the appropriate court for dismissal
       of the outstanding charges.

Finally, the Bureau of Prisons’ “Release Authorization” indicates a “Release

Date” of “10-05-05”; under the word “Method” appear the initials “IAD”; and

after “Detainer,” the “Yes” box is checked.

       In this case, it is utterly clear that the prosecutor lodged a detainer against

defendant, that both the Bureau of Prisons and defendant were aware of this

detainer, that the prosecutor was aware that the Bureau of Prisons was in

possession of the detainer, and that defendant caused a written request for a final


                                         15
disposition to be delivered to the prosecutor and the court while defendant was

serving a term of imprisonment. Therefore, the IAD is clearly applicable, and

Article III(a) was indisputably violated when defendant was not brought to trial

within the proper time frame. Because Article V(c) expressly states that if the

defendant is not “brought to trial within the period provided in Article III . . . , the

appropriate court . . . shall enter an order dismissing the [charges] with prejudice,”

the trial court here properly dismissed the charges against defendant. “Any other

reading of [the IAD] would allow the Government to gain the advantages of

lodging a detainer against a prisoner without assuming the responsibilities that the

[IAD] intended to arise from such an action.” Mauro, 436 US at 364. The

prosecutor here failed to satisfy these responsibilities.

                                    IV. CONCLUSION

       The clear language of the IAD, MCL 780.601, states that if the prosecutor

fails to bring a defendant to trial within 180 days of receiving the defendant’s

request for a final disposition made while the defendant is serving a term of

imprisonment if a “detainer has been lodged against the prisoner,” the court “shall

enter an order dismissing the [complaint] with prejudice.”            Because that is

precisely what happened in this case, we reverse the Court of Appeals and

reinstate the trial court’s order dismissing the charges with prejudice.10 However



       10
         Because we are reinstating the trial court’s order dismissing the charges
against defendant, defendant’s convictions and sentences arising from these


                                          16
harsh and inflexible a remedy for failure to comply with the IAD this may be

adjudged, it is plainly what our Legislature requires.



                                                  Stephen J. Markman
                                                  Marilyn Kelly
                                                  Michael F. Cavanagh
                                                  Elizabeth A. Weaver
                                                  Maura D. Corrigan
                                                  Robert P. Young, Jr.
                                                  Diane M. Hathaway




charges must be set aside. Defendant’s motion to remand for an evidentiary
hearing is denied because it is now moot.



                                         17