ALBANY — New York's highest court on Thursday dismissed an indictment against a man who spent more than five years at Rikers Island without a trial, on the basis that prosecutors violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial. In a 4-3 decision, People v. Wiggins, No. 15, the Court of Appeals favored Reginald Wiggins, who was 16 years old when he was indicted on a charge of allegedly shooting and killing a 15-year-old at a 2008 party in Manhattan. The court reversed a 3-2 decision by the Appellate Division in 2016 (People v. Wiggins, 143 AD3d 451 (1st Dept 2016)) and ordered the indictment dismissed in the majority's opinion, with which Associate Judges Jenny Rivera, Leslie Stein and Rowan Wilson concurred. People v. Taranovich Taranovich Wiggins waited at Rikers Island, without bail, for more than five years as the Manhattan District Attorney's Office tried to get a co-defendant, Jamal Armstead, to testify against him. There were subsequently three mistrials and 40 adjournments in the co-defendant's case. As Armstead's fourth trial was pending, Wiggins agreed to plead guilty to manslaughter in September 2014 and was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Armstead later pleaded guilty to attempted murder. Fahey said prosecutors couldn't delay trials to gather evidence, and that doing so violates the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial. The decision by the Court of Appeals effectively overturned the plea deal by dismissing the indictment against Wiggins. Fahey, writing for the majority, argued that the defendant suffered presumptive prejudice and that Wiggins' constitutional right to a speedy trial was violated. “The delay was extraordinary and although we assume that the people acted out of good faith belief that Armstead's testimony would significantly enhance their case against defendant, their decision to pursue a strategy for Armstead's cooperation that continued to be unsuccessful after five years cannot justify the extraordinary delay,” Fahey wrote in the 19-page decision. Wiggins, who is imprisoned at the Green Haven correctional facility roughly 60 miles north of Manhattan, was represented by Ben Schatz, appellate counsel at the Center for Appellate Litigation. Dissenting DiFiore, in her opinion, argued that the Appellate Division should order and uphold the denial of the defendant's motion to dismiss the indictment because prosecutors made “diligent efforts” and acted “in good faith.” “Clearly, five years is an extensive amount of time, even for a murder case, when the defendant remains incarcerated during the duration. The people, even while acting in good faith, must be wary of delays of this length while attempting to secure a co-defendant's cooperation in a joint prosecution. However, the record supports the findings of the court below that the people were making diligent efforts to move forward with the prosecution. In this context, it is duly noted that the court brooked an unacceptable amount of delay in defendant's case as a result of co-defendant's adjournment,” DiFiore wrote. Associate Judges Michael Garcia and Paul Feinman concurred with her opinion. The decision from the state's highest court comes amid a proposal by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to speed up the processing of court cases so defendants don't languish in jails. Despite New York having speedy trial lawyers, courts have been plagued by delays causing defendants to remain in jail as they await trial. Cuomo highlighted the need for reforms during his annual State of the State address in early January, honoring the brother of Kalief Browder, who spent three years on Rikers Island without being convicted of a crime. Browder, who committed suicide in June 2015, was arrested at the age of 16 after being accused of stealing the contents of a backpack. Rikers Island has been at the center of controversy over the handling of inmates, corruption and faulty management. New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio and the New York City Council reached a deal to close the jail by 2027, a decision the Cuomo administration has criticized for not being fast enough.