Aaron Jones has been interested in getting something he believes is a fundamental right of all Americans, something that would be of interest to all of us if we were in his shoes. That something is the right to a speedy trial, guaranteed by the Sixth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and binding on all fifty states because of the Incorporation Doctrine employed through the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
The Facts of the Case Seem Clear
On July 6th 2006 after Jefferson Parish police were called to his parents house due to a domestic disturbance Aaron Jones was arrested and charged with the possession of 4 or 5 handguns, marijuana, cocaine, and ecstacy. Certainly, something that someone should be held accountable for, but the question was and still is, if that person is Aaron Jones.
In addition, according to WWL-TV, a local television station in New Orleans, the Jefferson Parish Police Department report has Aaron Jones in possession of a handgun at the time of his arrest, however through a subsequent investigation his finger prints were not found on any of the weapons or the drugs.
During the television interview Jones told WWL-TV News reporter Dennis Woltering that he was incarcerated for 11 months, three weeks, and 2 days. And then the Judge in charge of the case gave him house arrest for an additional eighteen months because he could not make bail, which was set at $US587,000 dollars, larger than many accused murders in New Orleans.
Jones Can't Completely Move On With His Life
But the constitutional issue at stake here is regarding the fact that Jones has been given no less than twenty-seven court room continuances calling into question whether his right to a speedy trial is overtly being violated.
In the news report it was mentioned that Jones has been a model citizen since moving off of house arrest, having completed his GED (High School equivalency), gotten a license to operate forklifts and received a license to operate commercial vehicles.
However, Jones can't completely move on with his life as he attends Newez Community College and works as many as 45 days in succession (of 12-hour shifts) because he cannot obtain the security clearance necessary to work at the refinery job he is going to college for because he has not had his day in court, nearly three years after he was originally charged.
Is Anyone to Blame for this Difficult Set of Circumstances
One lingering question that maybe asked in this case, is who exactly is to blame for all of this? Certainly there seems to be enough to go around. The case appears to be ripe with misconduct from the guns and drugs found at Jones's parents house (the Jones family), to the actual search of the house Jefferson Parish Police), going forward with charges having little or no evidence (Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office), to the carrying out of sentences with no actual trial having taken place (Judge Martha Sasone).
In the report by Dennis Woltering of WWL-TV New Orleans, he suggests that by setting an astronomically high bail and then giving continuance after continuance, after continuance and then house arrest, the Judge in this case was theoretically carrying out an unnecessary sentence with no trial and no verdict at all.
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