Commonwealth v. Horan

On April 16, 1968, a span of a bridge under construction in Worcester collapsed. Three persons were killed and eight injured. Thirty-one months later, on November 17, 1970, the four defendants were indicted for manslaughter. The defendants moved to dismiss the indictments on the ground of delay. Twelve days of hearings on the motions were held in March and April, 1971, and on May 7, 1971, the judge reported the case to this court pursuant to G. L. c. 278, § 30A.

1. The judge stated that he was aware of no cases in this Commonwealth which have specifically considered the problem of alleged…