Why do we have a right to a speedy trial?

Question

I know that is good for the defendant because they can know where they stand but isn't it bad for the prosecutor because they have less time to find evidence of your guilt?

Answer 1

The idea is to prevent wrongful incarceration, there was a time when a "suspect" could be held indefinitely.  Besides justice delayed is justice denied.

Answer 2

Yeah! Right!!  Either your attorney isn't ready or the Prosecutor, or they are just over loaded with cases!! So, there you are, growing older by the day, and facts, names, places loose their impact, that's if you don't have a photographic memory!! Days turn to weeks, then months, and by that time, even your attorney can't remember half the stuff you told him!! And, then, when you are just about to start drawing Social Security, they call your name!! DUH! WHO!? Would you really call all that, having a speedy trial! There ain't no such thing!

Answer 3

That's better than letting an innocent man/woman languish in jail waiting for his/her trial. If they have enough evidence to press charges and arrest you then they should be ready for a speedy trial.

Answer 4

It's so an innocent person doesn't have to sit in jail for 10 months while he is waiting for his trial

Answer 5

If the prosecution does not have sufficient evidence to convict you, you should not have been charged to begin with.

How would you feel if you were imprisoned and left there for a few years until the prosecution decided they couldn't produce enough evidence to convict?  

Answer 6

It does not matter becuase nobody gets speedy trial anyway.

Answer 7

The Sixth Amendment guarantees the defendant's right to a speedy trial.  It's not so that the defendant "knows where they stand," but rather so that the prior practice of leaving the accused in prison for years without a conviction did not continue in this country.  The Constitution and the Amendments are not designed for the prosecutor or the victim.  A few months is plenty of time for the prosecutor to gather evidence which should have been gathered before the person was arrested or arraigned.