State v. Owens

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The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal brought by the State challenging the circuit court’s grant of Defendant’s motion to dismiss first-degree-murder charges against him on the basis that the speedy-trial rules as stated in the Arkansas Rules of Criminal Procedure had not been followed. On appeal, the State argued, among other things, that the circuit court’s “mechanical” application of Ark. R. Crim. P. 28.1 and 30.1 in resolving the speedy-trial issue did not comport with the more flexible approach recognized by the United States Supreme Court in Barker v. Wingo, 407 U.S. 514 (1972). The Supreme Court held that this was not a proper State appeal because, while purporting to raise purely an issue of law, the legal issue could not be separated by the unique facts of the case. View "State v. Owens" on Justia Law