Taylor v. the State

792 S.E.2d 101, 338 Ga. App. 804, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 552
CourtCourt of Appeals of Georgia
DecidedOctober 11, 2016
DocketA16A0880
StatusPublished
Cited by7 cases

This text of 792 S.E.2d 101 (Taylor v. the State) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Taylor v. the State, 792 S.E.2d 101, 338 Ga. App. 804, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 552 (Ga. Ct. App. 2016).

Opinion

Boggs, Judge.

In the third appearance of this case before this court, 1 Harry Taylor appeals from his convictions of six counts of aggravated child molestation, eleven counts of child molestation, eleven counts of sexual exploitation of children, one count each of aggravated sexual battery, sexual battery, and criminal attempt, involving fifteen minor victims. He contends that the trial court erred in (1) its balancing of the speedy trial factors required by Barker v. Wingo, 407 U. S. 514 (92 SCt 2182, 33 LE2d 101) (1972) and Doggett v. United States, 505 U. S. 647 (112 SCt 2686, 120 LE2d 520) (1992); and (2) denying his motion to suppress based upon deficiencies in the search warrant issued for his home. For the reasons explained below, we affirm.

1. Taylor contends that the trial court abused its discretion in its second ruling on the speedy trial issue in: (a) weighing the length of the delay lightly against the State; (b) weighing the reason for the delay benignly against the State; (c) weighing the assertion of his right to a speedy trial heavily against him; (d) weighing the prejudice factor heavily against him; and (e) balancing of the four factors to conclude that no speedy trial violation occurred.

Application of the Barker-Doggett factors

to the circumstances of a particular case is a task committed principally to the discretion of the trial courts, and it is *805 settled law that our role as a court of review is a limited one. Under our precedents, we must accept the factual findings of the trial court unless they are clearly erroneous, and we must accept the ultimate conclusion of the trial court unless it amounts to an abuse of discretion, even though we might have reached a different conclusion were the issue committed to our discretion.

(Citations and punctuation omitted.) State v. Alexander, 295 Ga. 154, 155-156 (758 SE2d 289) (2014). Basedupon this deferential standard of review, we find no merit in Taylor’s argument that the trial court should have granted his plea in bar.

In Taylor v. State, 334 Ga. App. XXVIII (Case No. A15A1305) (November 2, 2015) (unpublished) (“Taylor II”), we summarized the relevant facts concerning Taylor’s speedy trial claim as follows:

The record reflects that Taylor was [first] arrested on July 24, 2008. He was first indicted on October 15, 2008; however, due to what the State admitted were errors in the first indictment, Taylor was reindicted on January 7, 2009. And discovery in his case ensued from October 31, 2008, to August 2, 2010.
On January 30, 2009, Taylor filed, among numerous other motions, a motion to suppress, which he later amended and recast on August 12, 2010. The judge first assigned to handle Taylor’s case held hearings on this motion on August 16, 18, and 30, 2010, but did not immediately issue a decision. Additionally, in October 2009, Taylor consented to a continuance due to the still ongoing discovery, and he alleged that the State’s compliance was deficient as to 19 different, items. Thereafter, Taylor consented to three more continuances.
In February 2010, Taylor consented to a continuance to allow for specially set motions proceedings and due to his divorce trial. Two months later, in April 2010, Taylor consented to a continuance again because both he and the State believed the case would require one to two days to hear all pretrial motions and that the trial itself would last longer than one week. And in February 2011, Taylor consented to a continuance due to the continued unavailability of a sufficiently long trial calendar and because he was still awaiting a ruling on his motion to suppress. Finally, on December 16, 2011, the first-assigned judge denied Taylor’s [amended and recast] motion to suppress evidence.
*806 When Taylor received, via e-mail, the court’s order denying his motion to suppress, he learned the identity of the judge’s staff attorney and recognized that she was a former assistant district attorney who had previously been employed with the Gwinnett County District Attorney’s office and had some involvement in his case. Therefore, on December 20, 2011, Taylor filed a motion to recuse the judge. This motion was granted on February 17, 2012. Then, on February [22], 2012, the second-assigned judge voluntarily recused without explanation in accordance with Uniform Superior Court Rule 25.7, as did the third-assigned judge on February 27, 2012.
On February 27,2012, Taylor filed a motion for a de novo hearing and review of his previously denied motion to suppress. And on March 12, 2012, the fourth-assigned judge voluntarily recused without explanation. On March 15, 2012, the fifth-assigned judge set a hearing on Taylor’s February 27, 2012 motion for April 5, 2012. But then, after the hearing, on April 6, 2012, the [fifth]-assigned judge recused at the State’s request after realizing a potential conflict of interest.
On April 18, 2012, the [sixth]-assigned judge set the case down for a May 29 status hearing and for trial on August 6, 2012. After denying a motion to recuse the [sixth]assigned judge, on June 15, 2012, that judge granted Taylor’s request for a de novo hearing on his amended and recast motion to suppress and scheduled same for July 10, 2012. Thereafter, on July 27, 2012, the [sixth]-assigned judge denied Taylor’s recast and amended motion to suppress.
On July 26, 2012, Taylor for the first time asserted his right to a speedy trial when he filed a plea in bar and/or motion to dismiss, alleging that his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial had been violated. Following a hearing on September [6], 2012, Taylor’s motion was denied on September 26, 2012 by [a seventh]-assigned judge. On October 16, 2012, Taylor filed a direct appeal to this denial, but in light of the Supreme Court of Georgia’s decision in Sosniak v. State, [292 Ga. 35, 40 (2) (734 SE2d 362) (2012),] his appeal was dismissed on February 14, 2013.
Following the case’s return to the trial court, Taylor filed, on November 21, 2013, a second amended motion to suppress, raising new arguments as to why the evidence against him should be suppressed. This motion was denied on April 28, 2014. Thereafter, Taylor waived his right to a *807 trial by jury and, following a . . . bench trial [based upon stipulated facts and admitted photographs], was adjudicated guilty of the offenses set forth supra.

(Footnotes omitted.) Taylor II, supra at 2-5. In Taylor II, this court issued a 26-page unpublished opinion in which we exhaustively considered the trial court’s rulings on each of the Barker factors and remanded the case to the trial court “to exercise its discretion again using properly supported factual findings and the correct legal analysis.” (Punctuation and footnote omitted.) Id. at 25.

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Bluebook (online)
792 S.E.2d 101, 338 Ga. App. 804, 2016 Ga. App. LEXIS 552, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/taylor-v-the-state-gactapp-2016.