Wilson v. State

Pretermitting the threshold question of whether the delay from the date of the defendant's mistrial until the denial of his plea in bar on speedy trial grounds was presumptively prejudicial, the defendant failed to meet his burden under Barker v. Wingo.

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Somora Wilson appeals from the trial court’s denial of his plea in bar on speedy trial grounds. We pretermit the threshold question, whether the relevant delay, eleven months and ten days, was long enough to be presumptively prejudicial and to trigger an inquiry under Barker v. Wingo , 407 U. S. 514 92 SC 2182, 33 LE2d 101 1972. See State v Pickett , 288 Ga. 674, 675 2 a 706 SE2d 561 2011 “A delay approaching one year is generally deemed to be presumptively prejudicial.” We hold, as did the trial court, that Wilson has not met his burden under the four-factor Barker balancing test and affirm. On appeal from a pre-trial ruling on a defendant’s plea in bar, the issue is whether the trial court abused its discretion in balancing the four factors set forth in Barker : “1 the length of the delay; 2 the reason for the delay and whether this is attributable to the defendant or the state; 3 the timeliness of the defendant’s assertion of the right to a speedy trial; and 4 prejudice to the defendant.” Citation and punctuation omitted. State v. Johnson , 274 Ga. 511, 512 555 SE2d 710 2001. The trial court’s decision must be affirmed in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Id.

So viewed, the record shows that Wilson and his co-defendant, Stephanie McCree, were arrested in November 2005 on charges of cruelty to children concerning injuries inflicted upon their child, Somora Wilson, Jr. McCree and Wilson were indicted on May 1, 2008, for three counts of cruelty to children in the first degree and five counts of aggravated battery.

Wilson v. State

Pretermitting the threshold question of whether the delay from the date of the defendant's mistrial until the denial of his plea in bar on speedy trial grounds was presumptively prejudicial, the defendant failed to meet his burden under Barker v. Wingo.

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