Comments by "SmallSpoonBrigade" (@SmallSpoonBrigade) on "Georgia Leaves Man in Jail Ten Years Waiting for Trial" video.

Not taking the stand is usually the smart thing to do for the defendent. The main time when you'd want to take the stand is if your personal state of mind is a legitimate question at issue. For example in cases where self-defense is part of the defense, you'd really need the defendant to take the stand in order to help demonstrate that there was some sort of fear that rose to the level of authorizing lethal force.
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@joshuahudson2170 Yes, and sometimes the defense will waive the right if it looks like doing so will result in a more favorable case. But, even with a waiver, 10 years would be way too long. It's not so bad if he winds up being convicted, if he is ultimately convicted as that 10 years would be credited towards whatever the final sentence is and he's presumably in jail rather than in prison, so the time might be a bit easier than what he'd get. A murder conviction would likely be at least 10 years long anyways. But, really, he could be let off either due to actual innocense or because the prosecution failed to make their case, in which case this is 10 years of sitting in jail while everything he has falls apart. Money doesn't adequately make up for that, no matter how much.
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@Zurround In all fairness, a lot of people think that of Jesus.
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@joshuahudson2170 I didn't know that, that does make some sense as unlike waiving your right to remain silent where whatever you say is now fair game, the speedy trial requirement is something that could be undone to some extent, you wouldn't get that initial bit back, but you could reduce the rest of the delay. Still, 10 years, even if there is no motion to get the speedy trial back seems excessive. Probably not a problem if he is guitly and is ultimately convicted, but in any other case it just absolutely sucks.
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