Godfrey v. Commonwealth

How courts have described this case

Verbatim parenthetical descriptions written by other courts when citing this decision. Ranked by citation-network relevance.

• noting that the Court can “review . . . the record” when “assessing responsibility for delay in trying a defendant”
• refusing to consider a letter that had not been transmitted with the record by the trial court where neither party sought a writ of certiorari
• refusing to consider a letter between Godfrey’s counsel and the trial judge “related to this case and to another criminal case,” which “was not transmitted by the clerk below to the Clerk of this Court,” and “[a] writ of certiorari was not requested”
• “If a defendant is not tried within the time specified in Code § 19.2-243, the burden is on the Commonwealth to explain the delay.”
• “A defendant does not waive his right to a speedy trial merely because he remains silent or does not demand that a trial date be set within the prescribed period.”
• “Courts act by orders and decrees that become a part of the record on appeal. Continuances in criminal cases, therefore, must be documented to enable us to review and evaluate them when they are challenged.”

Source: CourtListener parenthetical corpus (CC0).