https://reason.com/2023/04/27/this-georgia-man-has-been-jailed-for-10-years-without-a-trial/
In 2013, Maurice Jimmerson was charged with murder. Ten years later, he still hasn't received a trial. Even though two of Jimmerson's codefendants were acquitted in 2017, Jimmersonwho pleaded not guiltystill languishes in jail in Dougherty County, Georgia, with little hope of a trial anytime soon. Making matters worse, he hasn't had a lawyer since last summer.
According to Gregory Edwards, the local district attorney, several factors have led to Jimmerson's absurdly long wait time for a trial. Edwards told Atlanta News First (ANF), a local news station, that the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2021 courthouse flood, and the decision by the previous judge to try Jimmerson and his codefendants separately caused the delay. Making matters worse, Edwards also says the county has been unable to find a public defender for Jimmerson, which has lengthened his time behind bars.
Jimmerson has been left without an attorney for the past eight months due to a particularly Kafkaesque string of bureaucratic errors. According to ANF, Jimmerson's old attorney, Benjamin Harrell, filed requests in July and August of last year to be released from the case, citing that he would need to travel frequently to obtain necessary medical care for his infant daughter.
However, the local county clerk's office misplaced a judicial order formally releasing Harrell from his position as Jimmerson's attorney. When Jimmerson sent a request for a new attorney in September 2022, it went unnoticed, according to one judicial assistant who spoke to ANF.
Because court employees lost Harrell's request to be released from Jimmerson's case, he was technically listed as Jimmerson's attorney until April 12 of this yearseemingly only after ANF journalists asked one judge why she never signed an order releasing Harrell. Though Jimmerson never received actual legal help from Harrell during this time, the Georgia Public Defender Council insists that Jimmerson has had access to legal counsel during the past eight months, despite the error.
In 2013, Maurice Jimmerson was charged with murder. Ten years later, he still hasn't received a trial. Even though two of Jimmerson's codefendants were acquitted in 2017, Jimmersonwho pleaded not guiltystill languishes in jail in Dougherty County, Georgia, with little hope of a trial anytime soon. Making matters worse, he hasn't had a lawyer since last summer.
According to Gregory Edwards, the local district attorney, several factors have led to Jimmerson's absurdly long wait time for a trial. Edwards told Atlanta News First (ANF), a local news station, that the COVID-19 pandemic, a 2021 courthouse flood, and the decision by the previous judge to try Jimmerson and his codefendants separately caused the delay. Making matters worse, Edwards also says the county has been unable to find a public defender for Jimmerson, which has lengthened his time behind bars.
Jimmerson has been left without an attorney for the past eight months due to a particularly Kafkaesque string of bureaucratic errors. According to ANF, Jimmerson's old attorney, Benjamin Harrell, filed requests in July and August of last year to be released from the case, citing that he would need to travel frequently to obtain necessary medical care for his infant daughter.
However, the local county clerk's office misplaced a judicial order formally releasing Harrell from his position as Jimmerson's attorney. When Jimmerson sent a request for a new attorney in September 2022, it went unnoticed, according to one judicial assistant who spoke to ANF.
Because court employees lost Harrell's request to be released from Jimmerson's case, he was technically listed as Jimmerson's attorney until April 12 of this yearseemingly only after ANF journalists asked one judge why she never signed an order releasing Harrell. Though Jimmerson never received actual legal help from Harrell during this time, the Georgia Public Defender Council insists that Jimmerson has had access to legal counsel during the past eight months, despite the error.