United States v. Richard Mohawk

Opinion by Judge O’SCANNLAIN.

O’SCANNLAIN, Circuit Judge:

In 1983, Richard Mohawk was convicted of armed bank robbery and sentenced to a term of twenty years in prison. He filed a timely notice of appeal from his conviction. Today, after more than ten years, we decide that appeal in his favor. In the end, we are called upon to determine whether, because of this extraordinary delay, it would violate due process to permit- the government to subject Mohawk to a second trial.

I

On January 28, 1983, three people robbed a Security Pacific National Bank in Los An-geles, California. 1 The government…