Opinion
5:22-CR-32-CAR-CHW
03-25-2024
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. GREGORY GALLAGHER, Defendant.
ORDER ON UNOPPOSED MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL
C. ASHLEY ROYAL, SENIOR JUDGE
Currently before the Court are Defendant Gregory Gallagher's Renewed Motions to Continue [Docs. 48 & 49] his trial, which is set to begin April 8, 2024, in Macon, Georgia. On June 15, 2022, the Grand Jury returned an indictment charging Defendant with Possession of Child Pornography. On July 5, 2023, Defendant was arrested, appointed counsel, pled not guilty at his arraignment, and released on an unsecured bond. This case has previously been continued nine times. The Court denied [Doc. 46] Defendant's prior Motion to Continue [Doc. 44] after discussion at the pretrial conference held on March 8, 2024. Defendant subsequently retained new counsel. [Doc. 47]. On March 25, 2024, the Court held another pretrial conference to discuss the Motions.
At the March 25th pretrial conference, Defendant's newly-retained counsel represented he has yet to receive the expert's report, which he expects to be ready by the middle of this week. The Court finds it serves the ends of justice to grant Defendant's request. The ends of justice served by granting a continuance outweigh the interests of Defendant and the public in a speedy trial. Failure to grant a continuance would deny counsel reasonable time to review discovery and could result in a miscarriage of justice. Thus, the Court GRANTS Defendant's Renewed Unopposed Motions to Continue [Docs. 48 & 49] and ORDERS Defense Counsel to inform the Court as soon as he receives the expert report and produce a copy for the Court's review. The trial of this case is set for April 29, 2024, and all pretrial motions are due by 5:00pm on April 15, 2024.
SO ORDERED.