State v. Hansen

LeGRAND, Justice.

The appeal in this case reaches us after a long and stormy history in district court. Although we must reverse the judgment and direct that the indictment upon which it is based be dismissed, we cannot overlook the conduct of defense counsel, which deserves our strongest censure as being dilatory, obstructive, and harassing.

Altogether the record shows some 135 filings in the case, almost 100 of them before trial. Many are routine but far too many are petitions, applications, motions— endlessly repeated — and frequently without any semblance of merit. At the same time counsel…