Opinion ID: 1881558
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: does the sixth amendment right to a speedy trial apply to the time between woodall's arrest and indictment?

Text: ¶ 8. The Sixth Amendment of the United States Constitution guarantees the right to a speedy trial. U.S. Const. amend. VI. [3] That right has been deemed a fundamental right. Klopfer v. North Carolina, 386 U.S. 213, 223, 87 S.Ct. 988, 18 L.Ed.2d 1 (1967). This Court has consistently held that this fundamental right arises at the time of a formal indictment or information or else the actual restraints imposed by arrest and holding to a criminal charge. Perry v. State, 637 So.2d 871, 874 (Miss.1994) (quoting Lightsey v. State, 493 So.2d 375, 378 (Miss.1986)) (emphasis added). ¶ 9. In the case at bar, the trial court found that the Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial came into consideration on February 24, 1997, the date of Woodall's arrest. Under Mississippi case law, the trial court properly ruled that the Sixth Amendment applied.