To recap the rescheduling that has occurred since video cameras captured them walking into the Surry court for the first time in their orange jumpsuits on Tuesday, January 17th:
Thursday, February 2, 2023
Monday, March 6, 2023
Monday, May 1, 2023
Monday, July 17, 2023
Will the third time/postponement be the charm? As they saying goes, "The wheels of justice turn slowly" (far too slowly for my liking!).
*sigh* Unfortunately for the 4th time, the Wilsons' hearing has been pushed back to September 25th (Monday). Since that July 17th date was coming up, I decided to see if it was still scheduled -- I had checked maybe 2 weeks or so before today, so this was probably a recent postponement.
All these postponements have got me wondering, what's the limit on how much longer their hearing can be delayed? This site appeared to have some good info; I'll highlight a few sections below:
https://www.lawyers.com/legal-info/...getting-a-continuance-in-a-criminal-case.html
"...the law frowns on delays, especially in criminal cases. So, the requesting party must have a good [cause] when submitting a motion for continuance."
"A judge will review all the facts of the motion and case when deciding whether 'good cause' exists for a continuance. The definition of good cause varies from allowing scheduling changes for the convenience of the parties and witnesses to ensuring a fair trial where both parties have adequate time to prepare."
"The length of the continuance depends on the situation and generally can be no longer than is 'necessary.' "
"Typically, there’s no limit on the number of continuances that a defendant can request. That said, a judge won’t look favorably on repeated requests, especially if they appear to be delay tactics. Repeated requests, made without good cause, will be denied."
"Judges will typically grant defendants’ requests to postpone initial court proceedings—such as an arraignment, first appearance, or preliminary hearing—to give them time to hire a lawyer. These requests are usually granted but not indefinitely. If the judge gives the defendant a reasonable amount of time to hire a lawyer but the defendant doesn't do so, the court might go ahead and appoint the public defender or other court-appointed counsel and schedule the hearing in short order."
If the reason for the continued delays is that the Wilsons are still trying to find legal representation, I'm thinking at some point, they're going to be assigned a public defender sooner than later. Perhaps there's some other legitimate "good cause" that they've demonstrated, but based on the news article where their former office assistant provided some insight about this, I don't see what else would be causing the delays here. Let's hope that their right to a speedy trial becomes the #1 priority soon.
www.wxii12.com
