YORK COUNTY, Pa.– A state appeals court voided a drunk driving conviction of a man whose case took too long to be brought to trial.
Nadim Jaouni was arrested in June 2013 on DUI charges, but his trial didn’t occur until July 2016.
Judge James Fitzgerald III ruled that after it took over three years after Jaouni’s arrest to try him on charges, the York County District Attorney’s office missed the legal deadline for trial by five months.
The ruling overturns Jaouni’s conviction which included 6 months of probation and a $300 fine.
It appears that the trial was delayed multiple times, and had been assigned to five different county judges over the life of the case.
Fitzgerald concluded that it was the District Attorney’s responsibility to protect Jaouni’s speedy trial rights, even if that meant that prosecutors had to secure another toxicology witness.
