MARSHALL, J., dissenting 456 U. S. JUSTICE MARSHALL, with whom JUSTICE BRENNAN and JUSTICE BLACKMUN join, dissenting. On February 17, 1970, in the early morning, Dr. Jeffrey R. MacDonald called military police and requested help. When police arrived at the family quarters, they found him unconscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds, including one that threatened his life. His wife and two young children had been murdered. On May 1, 1970, the Army formally charged him with the murders. The Army dropped those charges on October 23, 1970, but reopened the investigation at the request of the Justice Department and handed over a comprehensive report in June 1972. The Justice Department did not convene a grand jury until August 1974, more than two years later. The Court of Appeals charged this delay to Government "indifference, negligence, or ineptitude." United States v. MacDonald, 531 F. 2d 196, 207 (CA4 1976) (MacDonald I). On January 24, 1975, MacDonald was indicted by a civilian grand jury on three counts of murder, the same charges that the military authorities had dropped. Trial commenced in the summer of 1979. Confronted with these facts, the majority reaches the facile conclusion that the speedy trial right is not implicated at all when the same sovereign initiates, drops, and then reinitiates criminal charges. That conclusion is not justified by the language of the Speedy Trial Clause or the teachings of our cases, and it is hopelessly at odds with any sensible understanding of speedy trial policies. I must dissent. I Because the majority scants the relevant facts in this case, I review them in somewhat more detail. The initial investigation of the murders in this case was conducted by the Army's Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, as well as the local police. On May 1, 1970, the Army formally charged MacDonald with three specifications of murder, in violation of Article 118 of 1 MARSHALL, J., dissenting the Uniform Code of Military Justice, 10 U. S. C. §918. The Army conducted a lengthy hearing during which 56 witnesses testified. MacDonald himself testified and was extensively cross-examined. At the conclusion of the hearing, the investigating officer filed an exhaustive report recommending that the charges against MacDonald be dismissed "because the matters set forth in all charges and specifications are not true." See MacDonald I, supra, at 200. He also recommended that the civilian authorities investigate Helena Stoeckley, who had told several persons that she was involved in the crime. On October 23, 1970, the Commanding General of MacDonald's unit accepted the recommendation and dismissed the charges. In December, MacDonald received an honorable discharge. The prosecution did not, however, terminate on that date. Within a month of MacDonald's discharge, at the specific request of the Justice Department, the CID continued its investigation. The renewed investigation was extensive and wide-ranging. The CID conducted 699 interviews and, at the request of the Department, sent the weapons and the victims' clothing to the FBI laboratory in July 1971. In December 1971, the CID completed its investigation, and in June 1972, the CID submitted a 13-volume report to the Justice Department. Although supplemental reports were transmitted in November 1972 and August 1973, the Court of Appeals found that "no significant new investigation was undertaken during this period, and none was pursued from August 1973 until the grand jury was convened a year later." MacDonald I, supra, at 206. Indeed, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina recommended that the matter be submitted to a grand jury within six months of June 1972, and in 1973, the CID suggested the convening of a grand jury before it conducted further investigation. MacDonald was fully aware of these investigations. After his honorable discharge, MacDonald moved to California and resumed the practice of medicine. In 1971, the CID again in MARSHALL, J., dissenting 456 U. S. terviewed him. From January 1972 to January 1974, he repeatedly requested the Government to complete its investigation, and offered to submit to further interviews. The Justice Department declined to question him or to advise him when the investigation would terminate. In January 1974, the Department wrote that "this case is under active investigation and will remain under consideration for the foreseeable future." MacDonald I, supra, at 201, n. 6. There was no further correspondence. The Government did not present the case to a civilian grand jury until August 1974. MacDonald waived his right to remain silent and testified before the grand jury for a total of more than five days. Numerous other witnesses testified, the bodies of the victims were exhumed, and the FBI reinvestigated certain aspects of the crime. An indictment was returned on January 24, 1975. The indictment charged MacDonald with three counts of first-degree murder. The Government offered no legitimate reason-not even docket congestion-for the delay between the submission of the June 1972 report and the presentation to the grand jury in August 1974. The Court of Appeals explained: "The leisurely pace from June 1972 until the indictment was returned in January 1975 appears to have been primarily for the government's convenience. The Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina, who is familiar with the case, expressed an even harsher assessment of the delay. He told the magistrate at the bail hearing that the tangible evidence had been known to the government since the initial investigation in 1970 but that it had not been fully analyzed by the F.B.I. until the latter part of 1974. He explained that the F.B.I. analysis was tardy 'because of government bureaucracy."" MacDonald I, supra, at 206 (footnotes omitted). The FBI's failure to complete its analysis until 1974 is the only Government justification for the delay that the District 1 MARSHALL, J., dissenting Court mentioned in its initial decision denying MacDonald's motion to dismiss on speedy trial grounds. 1 App. for Appellant in No. 79-5253 (CA4), p. 46. In its post-trial decision, the District Court again denied the motion, but stated its belief that "the case could have been put before the grand jury at a much earlier date than it was." 485 F. Supp. 1087, 1089 (EDNC 1979). II The majority's analysis is simple: the Speedy Trial Clause offers absolutely no protection to a criminal defendant during the period that a charge is not technically pending. But simplicity has its price. The price, in this case, is disrespect for the language of the Clause, important precedents of this Court, and speedy trial policies. "In all criminal prosecutions," the Sixth Amendment recites, "the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial." On its face, the Sixth Amendment would seem to apply to one who has been publicly accused, has obtained dismissal of those charges, and has then been charged once again with the same crime by the same sovereign. Nothing in the language suggests that a defendant must be continuously under indictment in order to obtain the benefits of the speedy trial right. Rather, a natural reading of the language is that the Speedy Trial Clause continues to protect one who has been accused of a crime until the government has completed its attempts to try him for that crime. Our cases, to the extent they address the issue, contradict the majority's view. In Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U. S. 213 (1967), the prosecutor entered a "nolle prosequi with leave" after the first trial ended in a mistrial. Under that procedure, the defendant was discharged from custody and subject to no obligation to report to the court, but the prosecutor could reinstate the indictment at any time upon application to the court. This Court held that the indefinite postponement of the prosecution, over the defendant's objection, "clearly" denied the defendant the right to a speedy MARSHALL, J., dissenting 456 U. S. trial. Id., at 222. The Court reasoned that the defendant "may be denied an opportunity to exonerate himself in the discretion of the solicitor and held subject to trial, over his objection, throughout the unlimited period in which the solicitor may restore the case to the calendar. During that period, there is no means by which he can obtain a dismissal or have the case restored to the calendar for trial." Id., at 216. In that case, of course, the indictment technically had not been dismissed when the defendant was discharged from custody. However, the prosecutor was required to take affirmative steps to reinstate the prosecution; no charges were actively pending against Klopfer. The Court nevertheless held that the speedy trial right applied. Klopfer teaches that the anxiety suffered by an accused person, even after the initial prosecution has terminated and after he has been discharged from custody, warrants application of the speedy trial protection. The analysis in United States v. Marion, 404 U. S. 307 (1971), relied on by the majority, is entirely consistent with this teaching. The Court in Marion held that the Speedy Trial Clause does not apply to the period before a defendant is first indicted, arrested, or otherwise officially accused. However, the Court hardly suggested that after the first official accusation has been made, the dropping of charges prior to a second official accusation wipes the slate clean. The Court explained its holding by stating that "the indictment was the first official act designating appellees as accused individuals." Id., at 324 (emphasis added). Sixth Amendment provisions "would seem to afford no protection to those not yet accused, nor would they seem to require the Government to discover, investigate, and accuse any person within any particular period of time." Id., at 313 (emphasis added). Prior to the time of arrest or indictment, an accused may suffer anxiety, but he does not suffer the special form of anxiety engendered by public accusation. "Arrest is a public act that may seriously interfere with the defendant's liberty, |