Vermont v. Brillon

Michael Brillon (defendant), arrested in 2001 on felony domestic assault charges, went through six successive assigned attorneys over nearly three years, with delays caused variously by his own firing of one attorney, a threat against a second attorney's life leading to that attorney's withdrawal, and multiple attorneys' expiring contracts with the Defender General's office or requests for extensions due to caseload — including a four-month period without any counsel at all after his fifth attorney withdrew. Brillon was ultimately convicted after trial in June 2004 and sentenced to 12 to 20 years; the trial court denied his post-trial speedy-trial dismissal motion, finding the delay mostly his own fault and no demonstrated prejudice, but the Vermont Supreme Court vacated his conviction, finding his speedy-trial right violated by attributing most delay to the state rather than to Brillon.