IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF THE VIRGIN ISLANDS 
DIVISION OF ST. THOMAS AND ST. JOHN 
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, 
Plaintiff, 
v. 
JERVIN JEROME JEFFERS, 
Defendant. 
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Case No. 3:23-cr-0010 
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ORDER 
 
BEFORE THE COURT is Defendant’s Unopposed Motion to Continue Trial Date. (ECF 
No. 64.) For the reasons stated herein, the Court will continue the trial in this matter until 
April 15, 2024. The Court finds that the time beginning from the date of this Order through 
April 15, 2024, shall be excluded in computing the time within which the trial in this matter 
must be initiated. 
 
On February 17, 2023, the Government filed a Complaint charging Defendant with a 
violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5)(A) (Alien in Possession of a Firearm). On March 3, 2023, 
the Government filed an Information charging Defendant with violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 
922(g)(5) and 924(a)(2) (Alien in Possession of a Firearm) and 8 U.S.C. §§ 1325(a)(1) and 
1325(a)(2) (Illegal Entry). Defendant was arraigned on March 27, 2023. Defendant seeks a 
continuance of the trial currently scheduled for January 22, 2024, asserting that Defendant’s 
motions to suppress and to dismiss are pending, both Defendant’s counsel and the 
Government’s counsel have a scheduling conflict on January 24, 2024, involving sentencing 
in another case that was scheduled prior to the Order scheduling the trial in this case, and 
should Defendant’s motion to suppress be denied, Defendant needs at least 30 days to 
consult with counsel regarding how to proceed in this action. An Application and Checklist 
for Speedy trial Extension in which Defendant waived his right to a speedy trial has been 
filed on January 11, 2024, seeking an extension of the trial date to, and including July 1, 2024.       
While the Speedy Trial Act (the “Act”) requires that defendants be tried within 
seventy days of indictment, the Act specifically excludes:  
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United States v. Jeffers 
Case No. 3:23-cr-0010 
Order 
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[a]ny period of delay resulting from a continuance granted by any judge on his 
own motion or at the request of the defendant or his counsel or at the request 
of the attorney for the Government, if the judge granted such continuance on 
the basis of his findings that the ends of justice served by taking such action 
outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.  
 
18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(1)(A). Consistent with these concerns, the United States Court of Appeals 
for the Third Circuit has recognized that “whether or not a case is ‘unusual’ or ‘complex,’ an 
‘ends of justice’ continuance may in appropriate circumstances be granted.” United States v. 
Fields, 39 F.3d 439, 444 (3d Cir. 1994); see United States v. Graves, 722 F.3d 544, 546 (3d Cir. 
2013) (finding that the Speedy Trial Act “excludes periods of delay ‘resulting from a 
continuance granted by a judge,’” including based on “delay resulting from any pretrial 
motions,” so long as the court determined “‘that the ends of justice’ served by the 
continuance ‘outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial’”); 
United States v. Stallings, 701 F. App'x 164, 171 (3d Cir. 2017) (finding that the standard for 
continuance was met where the prosecutor had a family emergency and another multi-
defendant trial scheduled).  
The Court finds that the ends of justice served by extending the period in which the 
trial must begin in this matter outweigh the best interest of the public and the defendant in 
a speedy trial. Here, an extension of time is necessary to allow Defendant sufficient time to 
discuss how to proceed in this action upon the Court’s resolution of the pending motions and 
to accommodate both counsel’s scheduling conflict. The premises considered, it is hereby 
ORDERED that the time beginning from the date of this order granting an extension 
through April 15, 2024, shall be excluded in computing the time within which the trial in this 
matter must be initiated pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161; it is further 
ORDERED that the Government’s Unopposed Motion to Continue Trial Date, ECF No. 
64, is GRANTED; it is further 
ORDERED that the parties SHALL file their respective notices of readiness for trial 
no later than April 5, 2024; it is further  
ORDERED that the parties SHALL file and serve a pre-trial brief no later than April 5, 
2024, which shall include the following: (a) proposed list of witnesses; (b) proposed list of 
exhibits; (c) estimated length of case-in-chief and case-in-defense; (d) proposed non-
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United States v. Jeffers 
Case No. 3:23-cr-0010 
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standard voir dire questions; and (e) proposed non-standard jury instructions related to the 
elements of the charges and defenses; it is further 
ORDERED that the parties SHALL provide the Clerk of Court with a USB Flash Drive 
containing electronic versions of exhibits no later than April 10, 2024;1 and it is further 
ORDERED that the Jury Selection and Trial in this matter previously scheduled for 
January 22, 2024, are RESCHEDULED to commence promptly at 9:00 A.M. on April 15, 2024, 
in St. Thomas Courtroom 1. 
 
Dated: January 12, 2024 
 
/s/ Robert A. Molloy  
 
 
 
  
 
 
 
 
ROBERT A. MOLLOY 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Chief Judge 
 
 
 
 
 
1 Counsel are advised to consult with Court technical staff to determine the proper format for saving electronic 
versions of exhibits. The Government’s trial exhibits shall be labelled sequentially beginning with 
Government’s Exhibit 1. Defense exhibits shall be labelled sequentially beginning with Defense Exhibit A. 
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