An accused St. Thomas pastor asked a federal judge Wednesday to throw out sex-crime charges because prosecutors failed to file indictment papers on time.
Prosecutors claimed the man had fondled a child from his church after drawing her to secluded places. They brought seven charges against Lawrence Turnbull, 63, on March 6, according to court records.
Turnbull pleaded not guilty and U.S. Magistrate Judge G. Alan Teague set a June 1 trial date.
Federal judicial rules and the Speedy Trial Act of 1974 require federal prosecutors to present a formal indictment within 30 days of first filing charges against someone. Wednesday, 55 days after prosecutors made their accusations, Turnbull’s attorneys asked the court to dismiss the case: No indictment had been filed.
“The unjustifiable delay in indicting Turnbull has caused him actual prejudice and violated his due process rights as guaranteed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution. For all these reasons, Turnbull prays the court grant his motion,” Turnbull’s attorneys wrote.
The attorneys asked Judge Teague to dismiss the case without prejudice, meaning prosecutors could file new charges for the same alleged crimes if they wanted.
Prosecutors wrote to the court with a different timeline, saying the speedy-trial clock started April 1, not March 6. They asked the entirety of the timeline be delayed, and the June 1 trial be postponed, while the lead government prosecutor underwent medical treatment on the mainland.
Turnbull’s attorneys did not oppose the motion, according to court records, and asked Teague for their own 21-day delay, if the case were to proceed, because prosecutors had just delivered electronic data that needed to be parsed for potential exculpatory evidence.
As of Wednesday evening, the District Court website had not posted any rulings from Teague on the motion to dismiss or for the 21-day delay.
