On March 28, 2025, Alisha McKay with our office won a case with the Court of Criminal Appeals in Whittaker v. State. This case dealt with the Uniform Mandatory Disposition of Detainers Act.
This Act is a law adopted by all 50 states and the federal government. It allows for criminal defendants imprisoned in State A who have charges in State B to request that the charges in State B be resolved while serving their sentence in State A. The Act sets timelines and procedures that must be followed when a defendant asserts their rights under the Act. A critical aspect of these procedures is that, when a defendant invokes their right under the Act, State B has to bring the defendant to trial within 180 days unless the State shows good cause for a delay, the defendant is unavailable, or the defendant requests a delay.
In April 2018, Whittaker was indicted in Alabama for first-degree receiving stolen property. In 2020, Whittaker was sentenced in federal court on a separate offense. In March 2021, Whittaker filed a demand for speedy trial on the Alabama charge and final disposition of detainers under the Act. In October 2023, Whitaker filed a motion to dismiss the indictment because the State had not brought him to trial within the 180-day window mandated by the Act.
The State responded to this motion by claiming that the delay was caused by the Alabama Supreme Court’s administrative orders relating to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Without holding a hearing, the circuit court denied Whittaker’s motion. Whittaker then pleaded guilty, but reserved his right to challenge the denial of his motion to dismiss.
On appeal, the Alabama Court of Criminal Appeals rejected the State’s arguments that the Supreme Court’s COVID related orders created an administrative stay that justified the delay. As the Court pointed out, the State made no efforts to bring Whittaker to trial within the allotted time—to the point that Whittaker was not even brought to Jefferson County, where the charges were pending, until September 29, 2023. This was well after the 180-window expired on October 2, 2021. While the Supreme Court’s COVID order temporarily tolled the 180-day period, it only did so between April 30 and September 14, 2020.
Because the State entirely failed to bring Whittaker to trial within the time required, Whittaker was entitled to have the charges dismissed with prejudice. Therefore, the Court of Criminal Appeals reversed the denial of the motion to dismiss.
