Phan v. State

HUNSTEIN, Chief Justice.

This murder case, in which the State seeks the death penalty, returns to us for a second pre-trial appeal in which we must address the consequences of a financially strained indigent defense system operating within a recession-era State budget. In Phan v. State, 287 Ga. 697 (699 SE2d 9) (2010) (“Phan I”), we vacated a prior trial court order and remanded the case for a more comprehensive analysis as to Appellant Khahn Dinh Phan’s claim of a constitutional speedy trial violation, grounded in his assertion of a “systemic breakdown” in the public defender system. The…