Smith v. the State, 336 Ga. App. 229

Neil Smith was arrested for drug offenses on November 21, 2008; indicted in September 2011 after federal authorities declined prosecution and the state re-tested evidence and presented the case to a grand jury.
Smith was detained in federal custody from February 2009 to July 2011 for unrelated probation revocation, then returned to state custody for pretrial detention.
Smith filed a motion to dismiss on speedy-trial grounds at a November 2011 calendar call; the trial was continued with the State’s consent and commenced February 27, 2012.
The jury acquitted Smith of trafficking and possession with intent to distribute but convicted him of lesser included offenses of possession of cocaine and marijuana.
On initial appeal this court found the record lacked a hearing transcript or written order on the speedy-trial motion and remanded for findings; following an evidentiary hearing the trial court entered written findings denying the motion to dismiss.
On remand the trial court applied the Barker-Doggett framework, found the delay presumptively prejudicial but weighed most factors against Smith due to his late assertion of the right and lack of demonstrated prejudice; the Court of Appeals affirms.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether the ~3.25-year pretrial delay violated Smith's Sixth Amendment speedy trial right	Smith argued the multi-year delay between arrest and trial violated his speedy-trial right and warranted dismissal	State argued delay was largely attributable to federal prosecution prospects and subsequent federal declination; State acted promptly thereafter and Smith failed to assert his right timely or show prejudice	Court held delay was presumptively prejudicial and length weighed against State, but Smith’s long delay in asserting the right and failure to show prejudice meant the trial court did not abuse its discretion in denying dismissal

Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (establishes balancing test for speedy trial claims)
Doggett v. United States, 505 U.S. 647 (clarifies presumptive prejudice and prejudice inquiry)
Ruffin v. State, 284 Ga. 52 (explains weighing of factors when assertion is late and prejudice lacking)
Dillard v. State, 297 Ga. 756 (addresses application of Barker-Doggett and appellate deference)
Leopold v. State, 333 Ga. App. 777 (characterizes three-year delay in drug case as uncommonly long)
York v. State, 334 Ga. App. 581 (standards for appellate review of trial court findings on speedy-trial claims)
Porter v. State, 288 Ga. 524 (benchmarks for presumptive prejudice and prejudice evidence)
Brown v. State, 287 Ga. 892 (identifies the three interests protected by speedy trial right)