The Georgia Supreme Court has upheld a lower court's ruling dismissing charges against Bobby Lavon Buckner, who was accused of raping and killing a 12-year-old girl in 2003 in Chatham County.

A lower court judge in May dismissed charges against Buckner, saying years of delays and vanishing evidence violated his constitutional right to a speedy trial.

Buckner was charged in the slaying of Ashleigh Moore, his girlfriend's daughter. The girl went missing in April 2003 and her body was found a month later by a man fishing along the Savannah River.

Lawyers for the state argued that trial prosecutors did not needlessly delay Buckner's trial, and a trial court judge shouldn't have dismissed the case. The Supreme Court justices disagreed, and unanimously upheld the dismissal of charges.

Tags: Georgia Supreme Court, speedy trial, Bobby Lavon Buckner, constitutional right