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Thomas J. Zajac v. United States

IFP petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, No. 24-1224 · judgment February 13, 2025


Certiorari denied · January 12, 2026

Question presented

Speedy Trial Act A. In contradiction of Supreme Court Rule 10, was the appellate court’s avoidance of, through modifications to appellant’s facts and arguments, so extreme that it “so far departed from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings, or sanctioned such a departure by a lower court, as to call for an exercise of this Court’s supervisory powers”? B. Given that the three members of the appellate judiciary contributed to denying the appeal, does their order content signal a break in our system of justice? C. Did the appellate court’s ORDER provide the false detail to the trial court’s arguments, so to put that court in a favorable light, while omitting actual arguments by the appellant on those same arguments? D. Did the district and appellate courts knowingly side-step detail on the trial court’s § 3161(h)(7)(C) default, so to protect against a default due to its “congested calendar” error? E. Once the appellate court recognized, or should have recognized, that the trial court did in fact set the new trial date based upon its congested calendar, did the court err by not dismissing the indictment? F. Did the appellate court knowingly side-step the trial court’s loss of authority to grant a continuance under § 3161(h)(7)(C) and ends-of-justice errors, so to artificially preserve the court’s speedy trial clock? G. Did the appellate court knowingly misinform when it stated that, even without a valid continuance, the “70-day speedy trial clock would not have expired”: then, in violation of § 3161(e) and § 3162(a)(2) proceeded to observe the trial date set out hundreds of unexcused days beyond the 70-day clock? H. Did the appellate court’s order intentionally omit appellant’s argument that the trial court improperly included its ends-of-justice arguments within its order to dismiss the § 3161 speedy trial petition, so to dismiss the appellant’s appeal?

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Thomas James Zajac

For respondent
D. John Sauer
Solicitor General

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 1 conference

Linked docket
24A1083

Proceedings

  1. Jan 12 2026
    Petition DENIED.
  2. Dec 11 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 1/9/2026.
  3. Dec 03 2025
    Waiver of right of respondent United States to respond filed.
  4. Jul 07 2025
    Petition for a writ of certiorari and motion for leave to proceed in forma pauperis filed. (Response due December 19, 2025)
  5. May 08 2025
    Application (24A1083) granted by Justice Barrett extending the time to file until July 13, 2025.
  6. Apr 24 2025
    Application (24A1083) to extend the time to file a petition for a writ of certiorari from May 14, 2025 to July 13, 2025, submitted to Justice Barrett.