Larry Ray Bowling appeals from the denial of his motion to dismiss his indictment on the ground that his constitutional right to a speedy trial under the Federal and Georgia constitutions had been violated. We affirm. The record shows that, on April 24, 2004, Bowling was arrested for the aggravated battery of Melody Harrell by shooting her in the head, and the charge was later upgraded on May 6, 2004 to add counts of felony murder and murder after the victim died.1 Although Bowling never filed a statutory motion for speedy trial, he filed a motion to dismiss the indictment against him on October 4, 2006, contending that his Sixth Amendment constitutional right to a speedy trial had been violated. The trial court denied the motion to dismiss but granted a bond reduction. Bowling posted bond on October 26, 2006 and was released from custody.2
In January of 2007, the State discovered that its key witness, the officer who responded to the scene of the crime, had been hired by a private firm and was being deployed to Iraq. In response, the State filed a motion to take this witness’s testimony by videotape, and the trial court granted the motion. The witness was thereafter questioned while he was in Texas, and the video was fed into the Georgia courtroom. Later, however, the trial court, on May 4, 2007, granted a motion in limine brought by Bowling to exclude this videotaped testimony, finding it violated his constitutional right to fully confront the witness. The State sought to appeal that decision to this Court, but its application was dismissed on July 9, 2007. Subsequently, Bowling’s case returned to the trial calendar, and the State and Bowling’s attorney agreed to continue the case. The key witness returned to the United States for approximately two weeks in August of 2008, and, this time, Bowling agreed to take the witness’s testimony in a videotaped proceeding during which Bowling and his attorney were in the witness’s presence. On the same day that this testimony was taken, August 29, 2008, Bowling filed a second motion to dismiss his indictment due to a violation of his constitutional right to a speedy trial. This motion was again denied, and Bowling now appeals this decision.
