So you’ve been accused of a serious crime. Congratulations. You now have the sacred constitutional right to a “speedy” trial. And by “speedy,” we mean somewhere between eighteen months and three years, give or take a few calendar pages. Blink and you’ll miss it. The right itself is proudly carved into the Sixth Amendment, which promises that “in all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial…” and all the rest of the ceremonial language that sounds fantastic when read out loud in a courtroom. On paper, it is a masterpiece. In practice, it is a slow motion train wreck. So what’s the problem? Funny you should ask. There is no problem, at least not when the prosecution thinks they have an airtight case. Then everything moves like clockwork. Discovery gets dumped early, negotiations begin, and everyone pats themselves on the back. But when things are not so neat? That is when the real show starts. Discovery becomes a landfill. Mountains ...