Cash v. State, 307 Ga. 510

Background:

Victim Euan Dougal was shot outside a Columbus nightclub on Nov. 10, 2006; Dundell Cash was later identified as a suspect.
Cash was arrested in South Carolina on Nov. 2, 2008; a Muscogee County grand jury returned a no-bill on Apr. 21, 2009 and Cash was released.
A new grand jury indicted Cash for malice and felony murder on Mar. 10, 2015; trial began Jan. 24, 2017; jury convicted Cash of malice murder and he was sentenced to life.
Prosecution’s investigation was complicated by an eyewitness (Dennis Archer) thought to be missing or dead and by other unavailable witnesses (Calvin Jones died in 2010; two Army Rangers were not located for trial).
The trial court calculated the relevant delay as at most 28 months (6 months incarcerated before the no-bill + 22 months from indictment to trial), denied a pretrial speedy-trial dismissal and later denied Cash’s motion for new trial; the Georgia Supreme Court affirmed.

Issues:

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (Cash)	Defendant's Argument (State)	Held
Whether delay was presumptively prejudicial and triggered Barker balancing	Delay (counting entire period from arrest through reindictment) exceeded one year and was presumptively prejudicial	Trial court properly calculated the relevant delay at ~28 months and proceeded to Barker analysis	Court agreed delay was presumptively prejudicial and used Barker; accepted trial court’s 28‑month calculation
Whether pre-indictment/no-bill-to-indictment period should be weighed in assessing how heavily delay counts against the State	Court should consider the ~70‑month gap between no-bill and reindictment when weighing length of delay	Pre‑indictment period when defendant faced no charges or restraints is not counted toward post‑accusation speedy‑trial weighting	Court upheld trial court’s decision not to factor the intervening pre‑indictment period into how heavily the 28‑month delay weighed against the State
Whether the State intentionally misled defense about missing eyewitness Archer or was negligent in locating him	Prosecutor misled defense about Archer’s status and was negligent in searching, warranting dismissal	State conducted reasonable efforts; prosecutor’s lack of recollection did not prove intentional deception	Trial court’s credibility findings credited the State’s account; no clear error and no abuse of discretion
Whether Cash demonstrated actual prejudice from the delay (lost witnesses, diminished defense)	Death of Calvin Jones and unavailability of Rangers prejudiced defense and outweighed other factors	Jones died before the speedy‑trial right attached; missing witnesses’ hearsay statements were admitted without objection and defendant failed to show impairment	Court found no clear error: Cash failed to show actual prejudice; Barker balancing did not require dismissal

Key Cases Cited

Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972) (establishes four‑factor speedy trial balancing test)
Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (1992) (post‑accusation delay approaching one year is presumptively prejudicial)
Jackson v. Virginia, 443 U.S. 307 (1979) (standard for reviewing sufficiency of the evidence)
State v. Porter, 288 Ga. 524 (2011) (Georgia review standard for Barker analysis; deference to trial court’s factual findings)
United States v. Loud Hawk, 474 U.S. 302 (1986) (pre‑indictment delay not counted toward post‑accusation speedy‑trial calculation when defendant not under restraint)
United States v. MacDonald, 456 U.S. 1 (1982) (similar principle on pre‑indictment delay)
United States v. Oliva, 909 F.3d 1292 (11th Cir. 2018) (discusses treating pre‑indictment delay in speedy‑trial analysis)
State v. Heard, 295 Ga. 559 (2014) (delay approaching one year warrants presumption of prejudice)
Dillard v. State, 297 Ga. 756 (2015) (prejudice factor may weigh against defendant despite lengthy delay if no actual prejudice shown)
Higgenbottom v. State, 290 Ga. 198 (2011) (failure to show prejudice from missing witness supports denying speedy‑trial relief)