Opinion ID: 2981205
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Government’s Justification for the Delay

Text: The government bears the burden of justifying the length of any pre-trial delay. United States v. Jackson, 473 F.3d 660, 666 (6th Cir. 2007). Allegations that the government delayed the trial to hamper the defense is a factor that “weigh[s] heavily against the government,” while a “more neutral reason such as negligence or overcrowded courts” warrants less weight. Barker, 407 U.S. at 531. The government has advanced no justification for the delay in this case. Bugg points out, and the government concedes, that the government’s entire body of evidence against Bugg had been available since the early stages of the investigation. The government’s failure to explain the delay “tempts us to conclude that the delay lacks a valid justification. Such an unjustified delay, while not rising to the level of bad faith, would nevertheless suggest a ‘more neutral’ reason, such as negligence, for which the Government bore ultimate responsibility.” United States v. Watford, 468 F.3d 891, 904-5 (6th Cir. 2006). But Bugg does not allege any prosecutorial advantage gained by the government from the post-indictment delay,1 and thus we will not assume that the government delayed the trial to hobble the defense.