Bowman v. Georgia
Annotate this CaseIn February 2014, a grand jury indicted Logan Bowman for crimes against his daughter. At the next term of court, Bowman properly invoked his right to a speedy trial pursuant to the Georgia speedy trial statute, OCGA § 17-7-170. More than five years later, the State still had not brought him to trial before 12 citizens sworn by the court or the court clerk to “well and truly try the issue formed upon this bill of indictment . . . and a true verdict give according to the evidence,” so Bowman moved for discharge and acquittal on speedy trial grounds, which the trial court granted. The State appealed, and in State v. Bowman, 361 Ga. App. 465 (863 SE2d 180) (2021), the Court of Appeals reversed, holding that a “trial” by an unsworn group of citizens satisfied the requirements of OCGA § 17-7-170. The Georgia Supreme Court granted Bowman’s petition for certiorari and reversed the Court of Appeals’ judgment.
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