Goddard v. State

729 S.E.2d 397, 315 Ga. App. 868, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 1718, 2012 WL 1676594, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 461
Court of Appeals of Georgia·Decided May 15, 2012·No. A12A0504·Published·Cited by 11 cases

Opinion

Miller, Judge.

This is the second appearance of the case before this Court. In the first appearance, Goddard v. State, 310 Ga. App. 2, 5 (2) (712 SE2d 528) (2011) (“Goddard 7”), we vacated the trial court’s order as it concerned Allen Goddard’s plea in bar on constitutional speedy trial grounds and remanded the case for the entry of a proper order pursuant to Barker v. Wingo, 407 U. S. 514 (92 SC 2182, 33 LE2d 101) (1972). Following remand, the trial court entered another order denying Goddard’s plea in bar on constitutional speedy trial grounds. Goddard now appeals the order entered upon remand. For the reasons set forth below, we vacate the trial court’s order and remand this case for a second time for the trial court’s reconsideration.

“We review a denial of a motion to dismiss the indictment on speedy trial grounds for abuse of discretion.” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Stewart v. State, 310 Ga. App. 551 (713 SE2d 708) (2011).

In Goddard I, we described the relevant factual background as follows:

Goddard was arrested [on December 17,1992] for snatching a cash box from an employee of a tanning business, and [was] subsequently indicted for robbery [OCGA § 16-8-40 (a) (3)] in Newton County on February 19, 1993. On April 12, 1993, the State received a letter from Goddard to the “Newton County Court” stating that he was incarcerated in Fulton County under an alias and that he thought it would be best to “let Newton County know where I’m at before my court date comes up.” On December 28, 1993, Goddard was charged by accusation with reckless driving [OCGA § 40-6-390 (a)] and fleeing and attempting to elude [OCGA § 40-6-395 (a)] in connection with the robbery. Less than a month later, on January 20, 1994, Goddard filed a demand for speedy trial pursuant to OCGA § 17-7-170 seeking an acquittal on all three charges filed in Newton County.
[869] Goddard was released from jail in Fulton County on an unrelated offense on February 1, 1994. On February 11, 1994, the clerk of court mailed Goddard’s notice of trial on the Newton County charges to the wrong address, and when his case was called for trial on February 28, 1994, Goddard failed to appear. The trial court issued a bench warrant for his arrest, but the case was subsequently dead-docketed. [1] Goddard claims, and the State does not dispute, that from March 14, 1994[,] until he was finally arrested and transported to Newton County on March 25, 2010, Goddard was in and out of jail in at least two other counties.
Goddard filed a plea in bar on both constitutional and statutory speedy trial grounds on May 19, 2010. The trial court summarily denied Goddard’s plea in bar on both grounds [on July 14, 2010].

(Punctuation omitted.) Goddard I, supra, 310 Ga. App. at 2-3. In Goddard 1, supra, 310 Ga. App. at 4 (1), this Court affirmed the trial court’s denial of Goddard’s plea in bar on statutory speedy trial grounds with regard to the robbery charge, but reversed with regard to the charges of fleeing and attempting to elude and reckless driving. However, this Court vacated the trial court’s order as it concerned Goddard’s plea in bar on constitutional speedy trial grounds and remanded the case for proper consideration of the Barker factors. Id. at 5 (2). Following remand, specifically on September 7,2011, the trial court denied Goddard’s plea in bar on constitutional speedy trial grounds. Goddard has filed the instant appeal to challenge the trial court’s decision.

An analysis of a constitutional speedy trial claim has two stages. The first stage requires a determination of whether the interval from the defendant’s arrest, indictment, or other formal accusation to the trial is sufficiently long to be considered “presumptively prejudicial.” Where the delay is only ordinary, rather than presumptively prejudicial, the defendant’s speedy trial claim fails at the threshold. A delay [870] that is deemed to be presumptively prejudicial, however, triggers the second stage of the analysis. At this second stage, a court must determine whether the defendant has been deprived of his right to a speedy trial by analyzing a four-part balancing test that considers the conduct of both the State and the defendant (i.e., the Barker[ ] factors): (1) the length of the delay; (2) the reason for the delay; (3) whether the defendant asserted his right to a speedy trial; and (4) whether the defendant was prejudiced by the delay. Standing alone, none of these factors are a necessary, or sufficient condition to a finding of deprivation of the right to a speedy trial, but rather should be considered as part of a balancing test.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) Stewart, supra, 310 Ga. App. at 552-553.

1. The Threshold Inquiry Presumptive Prejudice. A finding of “presumptive prejudice” is a threshold inquiry that triggers a speedy trial analysis under Barker. See State v. Porter, 288 Ga. 524, 525 (2) (a) (705 SE2d 636) (2011). That is, “[i]f such a presumption is not warranted, the analysis need go no farther because the accused’s speedy trial claim fails [.]” (Citation and punctuation omitted.) Higgenbottom v. State, 290 Ga. 198, 200 (1) (719 SE2d 482) (2011). Here, the trial court found that the pretrial “delay was not so lengthy as to be considered presumptively prejudicial.” The trial court’s finding is erroneous.

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Goddard v. State, 729 S.E.2d 397, 315 Ga. App. 868, 2012 Fulton County D. Rep. 1718, 2012 WL 1676594, 2012 Ga. App. LEXIS 461 (Ga. Ct. App. 2012).

729 S.E.2d 397 (Goddard v. State) — published by Counsel Stack Legal Research, free access to 12M+ legal documents.

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