A citizen’s right to a speedy trial is on trial in St. Louis, where a man charged with tampering with a motor vehicle says he’s been waiting in jail for 18 months while five trial dates have been set and then the trials have been postponed.

The public defender for Tracy McKee says the St. Louis Circuit Court system of assigning trials to judges has left the system unable to deal with an overcrowded and overburdened court system. The State Supreme Court has told a judge to hold a hearing on whether McKee’s complaint is valid. If it is, the charges have to be dismissed.