Derrick Brock was convicted of the murder of James Lockett, who died from injuries sustained in a fire at his rooming house on Bolton Road in Atlanta.
1. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, the evidence presented at trial shows that Brock got into a fight when he tried to enter the room of Raymond Dixon, a resident of the rooming house, to smoke some of Dixon’s crack cocaine. Dixon asked Brock to leave and pushed him out the bedroom door. They tussled and wrestled in the hallway for several minutes until another resident broke up the fight. They renewed the fighting on the front porch, and Dixon blackened both of Brock’s eyes. After Dixon returned to his room at the front of the house, Brock banged on the door, screamed “I’m going to burn this motherf_down” three or four times, threw rocks at the windows, and broke some window panes. Other witnesses heard Brock say, “All you n_s and all you whores will die by daylight, I will burn that house down” and “All of the motherf_s and the punk n_s [are] going to pay.” Brock remained outside in the driveway under Dixon’s window for at least an hour, yelling, cursing, drinking, and “hanging out.” In the early morning hours, Dixon left the house to buy more crack cocaine; the two women he had been entertaining went to meet a friend at the gas station across the street. One of them testified that she saw Brock next to the store holding a small can with flames on it. When Dixon returned home later, he found the house in flames.
Fire investigators determined that the fire, which started around 7:30 a.m., was deliberately set in Dixon’s room in the area of the mattress or just outside the closet. They found a small metal can of lighter fluid without a cap at the foot of the bed and patterns around the bed that were caused by an ignitable liquid poured on the surface. The only exits in the house were the front door and the windows on three sides of the house; the back door was locked and blocked by debris, and plywood covered the windows on the side of the house where Lockett’s room was located. Firefighters found Lockett in the hallway under heavy smoke. He suffered third-degree burns over 45 percent of his body and died three weeks later from the injuries he had sustained in the fire. Two other persons who were staying in the rear rooms of the house suffered injuries from smoke inhalation. At trial, Brock presented an alibi defense, calling four witnesses who testified that he was at his sister’s apartment early that morning.
Although Brock contends that the State’s witnesses were not credible because they were drug addicts, prostitutes, and convicted felons who were intoxicated or using drugs that night, this Court does not weigh the evidence or resolve conflicts in testimony. See Caldwell v. State,
2. Brock contends that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial was violated by the delay between his arrest in 2003 and his indictment in 2009 and trial in 2011. Brock, who was released on bond shortly after his arrest, first raised the speedy trial claim in his July 2012 amended motion for a new trial.
To decide a constitutional speedy trial claim, courts engage in a balancing test that considers the “[l]ength of delay, the reason for the delay, the defendant’s assertion of his right, and prejudice to the defendant.” See Barker v. Wingo,
(a) Presumptive prejudice. The eight-year delay in this case between Brock’s arrest and trial triggers a presumption of prejudice. Ruffin,
(b) Length of delay. The pre-trial delay is uncommonly long and weighs against the State. See Doggett,
(c) Reasons for the delay. The record does not show the specific reason for the six-year delay prior to indictment or the two-year delay between Brock’s indictment and trial. There is no evidence that the State intentionally caused the delay or attempted to undermine Brock’s defense. When the reason for the delay is not apparent, we treat it as caused by the negligence of the State, see Ruffin, 284 Ga.
(d) Assertion of right to speedy trial. Brock never filed a speedy trial demand in any form prior to trial, first asserting the claim 17 months after the jury had convicted him of murder. The Supreme Court stated in Barker that “barring extraordinary circumstances, we would be reluctant indeed to rule that a defendant was denied this constitutional right on a record that strongly indicates . . . that the defendant did not want a speedy trial.” Barker,
(e) Prejudice. The Supreme Court has “identified three interests which the speedy trial right was designed to protect, the last being the most important: (a) to prevent oppressive pre-trial incarceration; (b) to minimize anxiety and concern of the accused; and (c) to limit the possibility that the defense will be impaired.” Washington v. State,
3. Brock also argues that his trial counsel was ineffective for failing to request a speedy trial. To establish a claim of ineffective assistance of counsel, the defendant must show that counsel’s performance was deficient and the deficient performance prejudiced the defense. Strickland v. Washington,
At the hearing on the motion for a new trial, Brock’s trial counsel testified that he did not file a motion for speedy trial because he believed the passage of time would only benefit Brock. He explained that the lifestyle of the witnesses did not promote long lives and their transient nature would make it difficult for the State to locate them for trial. In addition, he did not believe it was in his client’s best interest to push for a trial since Brock was out on bond. Finding that the defendant had an incentive for delaying the trial, the trial court determined that trial counsel’s failure to challenge the delay was a reasonable strategy and tactic. We conclude that the trial court did not err in determining that trial counsel did not perform deficiently in failing to raise Brock’s right to a speedy trial.
Judgment affirmed.
Notes
The fire occurred on January 29,2003, and James Lockett died on February 23,2003. On March 31, 2009, the Fulton County Grand Jury indicted Brock for one count of malice murder, two counts of felony murder, two counts of aggravated assault, and one count of first degree arson. Prior to jury deliberations, the trial court dismissed the aggravated assault and arson counts on the ground that the statute of limitations for those counts had expired prior to the indictment. On March 8, 2011, the jury found Brock guilty of malice murder and two counts of felony murder, and the trial court sentenced him to life imprisonment for malice murder; the felony murder counts were vacated by operation of law. Brock filed a motion for new trial on April 1, 2011, and an amended motion for new trial on July 13, 2012, which was denied on September 11, 2012. Brock filed a notice of appeal on September 18, 2012. The case was docketed for the Court’s January 2013 term and submitted for decision on the briefs.