OPINION AND ORDER

MYRON H. THOMPSON, District Judge.

This seven-defendant case is before the court on motions to continue filed by defendant George Edward Jones and the government. For the reasons set forth below, the court finds that jury selection and trial, now set for September 4, 2018, should be continued pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7) for all seven defendants.

While the granting of a continuance is left to the sound discretion of the trial judge, see United States v. Stitzer, 785 F.2d 1506, 1516 (11th Cir. 1986), the court is limited by the requirements of the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 3161. The Act provides in part:

§ 3161(c)(1). The Act excludes from the 70-day period any continuance based on "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." § 3161(h)(7)(A). In granting such a continuance, the court may consider, among other factors, whether the failure to grant the continuance would "result in a miscarriage of justice," § 3161(h)(7)(B)(i), or "would deny counsel for the defendant or the attorney for the Government the reasonable time necessary for effective preparation, taking into account the exercise of due diligence." § 3161(h)(7)(B)(iv).

The court concludes that, in this case, the ends of justice served by granting a continuance outweigh the interest of the public and all seven defendants in a speedy trial. The government seeks a continuance because an essential witness was recently hospitalized, is suffering from complications due to a previous injury, and may require surgery. Defendant Jones seeks a continuance because he has been hospitalized, and his counsel needs additional time to meet with him, investigate, and prepare for trial. The court concludes that a continuance is warranted to allow Jones's counsel the opportunity to prepare fully and effectively and for an important government witness to recover sufficiently to testify.

In a case involving a single trial for multiple co-defendants, if the court finds the ends of justice outweigh the interest of one of the defendants and the public in a speedy trial, the Act excludes the continuance from the 70-day period for that defendant as well as all co-defendants. See 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(6) ("A reasonable period of delay when the defendant is joined for trial with a codefendant as to whom the time for trial has not run and no motion for severance has been granted" shall be excluded in computing the time within which the trial of any such offense must commence). Moreover, the court entered a show-cause order as to why a continue was not warranted from the current trial date of September 4, 2018, to November 5, 2018, and no defendant opposed it. For these reasons as well, the court again concludes that the ends of justice served by granting a continuance outweigh the interest of the public and the defendants in a speedy trial.

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Accordingly, it is ORDERED as follows:

(1) Defendant George Edward Jones's motion to continue (doc. no. 188) and the government's motion to continue for all defendants (doc. no. 192) are granted.

(2) The jury selection and trial for defendant Jones and for defendants Cyrus Phyfier, William Rodriquez Ford, Earnest Lee Rhodes, Edgar Lee Coleston, Erwin Smith, and Gene Easterling, now set for September 4, 2018, are reset for November 5, 2018, at 10:00 a.m., in Courtroom 2FMJ of the Frank M. Johnson Jr. United States Courthouse Complex, One Church Street, Montgomery, Alabama.