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    The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Dennis Butler's conviction and sentence for escape. Butler escaped from prison in 1978 and was indicted in 1986 but not arrested until 2006 when he turned himself in. Butler argued his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated by the delay. The court found that under the four-factor test from Barker v. Wingo, the delay was not unconstitutional as Butler lived as a fugitive for 28 years using many aliases to evade capture, while the government made efforts to locate him. The court affirmed the conviction and 24-month sentence.

    Original Description:

    Filed: 2007-09-13 Precedential Status: Non-Precedential Docket: 07-4121

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    The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Dennis Butler's conviction and sentence for escape. Butler escaped from prison in 1978 and was indicted in 1986 but not arrested until 2006 when he turned himself in. Butler argued his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated by the delay. The court found that under the four-factor test from Barker v. Wingo, the delay was not unconstitutional as Butler lived as a fugitive for 28 years using many aliases to evade capture, while the government made efforts to locate him. The court affirmed the conviction and 24-month sentence.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
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    4 views3 pages

    United States v. Butler, 4th Cir. (2007)

    Uploaded by

    Scribd Government Docs
    The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed Dennis Butler's conviction and sentence for escape. Butler escaped from prison in 1978 and was indicted in 1986 but not arrested until 2006 when he turned himself in. Butler argued his constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated by the delay. The court found that under the four-factor test from Barker v. Wingo, the delay was not unconstitutional as Butler lived as a fugitive for 28 years using many aliases to evade capture, while the government made efforts to locate him. The court affirmed the conviction and 24-month sentence.

    Copyright:

    Public Domain
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    of 3

    UNPUBLISHED

    UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS


    FOR THE FOURTH CIRCUIT

    No. 07-4121

    UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,


    Plaintiff - Appellee,
    versus
    DENNIS TYRONE BUTLER,
    Defendant - Appellant.

    Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern
    District of Virginia, at Alexandria.
    Claude M. Hilton, Senior
    District Judge. (1:86-cr-00255-CMH)

    Submitted:

    August 29, 2007

    Decided:

    September 13, 2007

    Before TRAXLER and KING, Circuit Judges, and WILKINS, Senior


    Circuit Judge.

    Affirmed by unpublished per curiam opinion.

    Michael S. Nachmanoff, Federal Public Defender, Meghan S. Skelton,


    Assistant Federal Public Defender, Alexandria, Virginia, for
    Appellant. Chuck Rosenberg, United States Attorney, John P. Lohrer
    Special Assistant United States Attorney, Alexandria, Virginia, for
    Appellee.

    Unpublished opinions are not binding precedent in this circuit.

    PER CURIAM:
    Dennis Tyrone Butler pled guilty to the charge of escape
    in violation of 18 U.S.C.A. 751(a) (West 2000 & Supp. 2007), and
    was sentenced to twenty-four months imprisonment.

    On appeal, he

    argues that the district court erred in denying his motion to


    dismiss the indictment based on his constitutional right to a
    speedy trial.

    For the following reasons, we affirm Butlers

    conviction and sentence.


    In August 1978, Butler escaped from the lawful custody of
    the Attorney General after serving only eight years of a sentence
    of twenty years to life imprisonment.

    Butler was indicted on the

    charge of escape in September 1986, but was not arrested until he


    turned himself in to law enforcement officials in August 2006.
    Butler admits that from August 1978 until August 2006, he lived as
    a

    fugitive,

    moving

    frequently

    and

    using

    approximately

    thirty

    different identities in an effort to evade capture and arrest.


    During

    that

    time

    period,

    the

    Government

    employed

    numerous

    investigative techniques in an effort to locate and apprehend


    Butler.
    On balance, we find that the four factors outlined by the
    Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514, 530 (1972), weigh
    heavily against Butler.

    Accordingly, we find no violation of

    Butlers constitutional right to a speedy trial.


    affirm Butlers conviction and sentence.

    - 2 -

    We therefore

    We dispense with oral

    argument because the facts and legal contentions are adequately


    presented in the materials before the court and argument would not
    aid the decisional process.

    AFFIRMED

    - 3 -

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