Opinion ID: 2158865
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Defendant's Assertion of the Right to a Speedy Trial

Text: If and when a defendant asserts his rights are factors of considerable significance in determining whether there has been a speedy trial violation. [38] Furthermore, the failure to assert the right will make it difficult for a defendant to prove that he was denied a speedy trial. [39] Middlebrook asserted at the first opportunity his right to a speedy trial. After his very first trial date was continued at the request of the State, Middlebrook wrote a letter to the trial court protesting the continuance as a violation of his right to a speedy trial. After two more continuances at the State's request and a third continuance at the request of defense counsel so that he could take a vacation, Middlebrook again asserted his right to a speedy trial through a letter to the trial court. Although the second letter was Middlebrook's final assertion of the right to a speedy trial until this appeal, we find that his protest letter after the first continuance combined with his second protest letter fulfilled the defendant's responsibility to call attention to what he views as an unfair postponement. [40] Trial judges must be sensitive to the need for our courts to provide swift and fair justice. Therefore, we find that the third Barker factor, defendant's assertion of the right to a speedy trial, weighs in favor of Middlebrook.