State v. Utley

OPINION

ANDERSON, Chief Justice.

The question to be decided in this appeal is whether the defendant was denied his right to a speedy trial as required under the Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution and Article I, § 9 of the Tennessee Constitution. To answer that question, we must determine the type of state action which will engage the defendant’s right to a speedy trial. 1

In this case, the trial court found that the speedy trial right was engaged by the issuance of an arrest warrant against the defendant and that a delay of five and one-half years from the issuance of the arrest…