State v. Bell

I respectfully dissent to the majority’s affirmance of the trial court’s grant of the defendant’s motion for an absolute discharge and acquittal of the murder charges pending against him. Given the extreme nature of the sanction of absolute discharge and acquittal, it can only be invoked when there has been strict compliance with OCGA §§ 17-7-170 and 17-7-171, the statutes which prescribe the means by which a criminal defendant may assert the right to speedy trial after indictment. Patten v. State, 250 Ga. App. 498, 499 (552 SE2d 110) (2001); Hanson v. State, 196 Ga. App. 589 (1) (396 SE2d…