The state’s failure to bring a man to trial within one year of his initial arrest required the reversal of his conviction and 60-year prison sentence for first-degree battery, the Arkansas Court of Appeals said on Wednesday .

In addition to reversing the conviction and sentence of Joseph Gilbert , the court also dismissed the underlying charge, meaning the state cannot retry Gilbert.

The case stemmed from a non-fatal 2018 shooting of a woman at her home in Jefferson County. On Nov. 18, 2018, Pine Bluff police “shackled and questioned Gilbert at the detective office about the shooting but ultimately released him,” the court said. The state filed charges against Gilbert on Jan. 31, 2019, but he was not re-arrested until Oct. 21, 2022 — more than two and a half years later.

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