State v. Coutlee

Jimmie Leon Coutlee was convicted of second-degree murder and second-degree assault. He appeals from the judgment and sentence thereafter imposed, contending in part that he was denied a speedy trial as required by CrR 3.3. We agree and direct dismissal of the information.

We encounter considerable difficulty in any attempt to reconstruct precisely the events which preceded defendant’s pretrial motion to dismiss. The judge who denied the motion (not the same judge who ultimately presided at trial) cogently and candidly observed:

I have allowed you to approach me in chambers and do things that…