GWINNETT: Court to consider speedy trial claim | Crime

ATLANTA -- A death penalty defendant who has been awaiting trial for a Gwinnett County killing since March 2005 is asking Georgia's top court to dismiss all charges for violations of his right to a speedy trial for the second time in less than two years.

Khahn Dinh Phan is asking the Georgia Supreme Court to dismiss his charges because he said the state has "chronically underfunded" the death penalty defense system.

Phan was accused of the December 2004 shootings of a Vietnamese couple and their two-year-old son over a gambling debt. The father and son died, while the wife suffered severe injuries.

Phan was appointed two public defenders, but the case lagged amid a funding delay. Prosecutors say Phan brought the delays upon himself.