Man In Jail for 10 Years Wants Murder Charges Dismissed

Kharon Davis has been held in jail, without bond, for 10 years due to
delays in starting his trial. Photo: Shutterstock

In 2007, Kharon Davis was arrested for the shooting death of Pete Reaves. Since then, he has been held without bond in the Houston County Jail, and his trial date has been repeatedly pushed back.

Now, Davis’s lawyers are asking a judge to dismiss the murder charges against him, citing a violation of Davis’s constitutional right to a speedy trial because the court failed to act expediently on an apparent conflict of interest with Davis’s first attorney, Ben Meredith.

Defense attorney Tommy Goggans wrote in the motion that the court caused “over four years of down time in this case” because it failed to resolve a conflict of interest with the first defense lawyer. That lawyer was the father of a police officer who investigated the crime, who was likely to take the stand as a witness for the prosecution.

Allegedly, the conflict was known to the court in 2007, but it wasn’t until 2011 that another judge removed that lawyer.

“It took over four years for the conflict to be addressed and resolved,” wrote Goggans. “This delay should not fall upon Davis but upon the government.”

Over the next six years, there were several delays, some of which came from Davis seeking new attorneys. Each new attorney needed time to get caught up on the details of the case. But Goggans argued that Davis should not be penalized because of the delays he caused.

“Excessive delay presumptively compromises in ways that cannot, and, therefore, need not, be proved,” Goggans wrote. “Hence, the defendant is entitled to dismissal if he establishes presumptive prejudice and the government does not rebut it.”

Prosecutors oppose the motion to dismiss, because they say Davis himself contributed to the delay by firing a replacement lawyer who had been appointed by the court.

“The length of the delay in this matter is justifiable and attributable to Davis. Davis has failed to show any purposeful delay on behalf of the state, and he has failed to show how he has been prejudiced by any delay,” the prosecutors wrote.

What do you think? Was Davis's right to a speedy trial violated by government inaction? If so, should the charges against him be dismissed? Please share your thoughts in the comments.