Don’t ignore that summons for jury duty.
If it’s safe enough to go to crowded bars, restaurants, theaters and theme parks – as our governor boldly proclaimed last week – it’s surely safe enough to go to the courthouse and deliver verdicts. That is the thinking at the county courthouse, anyway.
Starting Tuesday, when jury trials will be held at the county courthouse for the first time since the coronavirus pandemic shut down the state in March, judges will be expecting you to show up and serve.
“We need to get back to doing trials again,” County Court Judge David Morgan said last week. “Fortunately, with our courthouse and larger courtrooms, we’re well-equipped to handle it.”
In fact, the county’s clerk of court, Jeff Smith, sent out 350 summonses to potential jurors last month for Morgan’s first two misdemeanor trials next week. County Judge Nicole Menz will seat juries for her trials the following Tuesday.
Circuit Judge Dan Vaughn, who presides over felony cases in our county, is scheduled to oversee jury selection for his first post-COVID trial on Oct. 19.
“The rate of shows to no-shows before COVID was 60 to 70 percent [showing up], but we’re not sure who’s going to show up now,” Smith said, adding that the summonses provide a list of COVID-related reasons that recipients may cite to postpone their jury service for six months.
Generally, postponements will be granted to people who have been exposed to the virus, have health issues that put them at greater risk of infection, or live in a household with a high-risk person.
“Thus far, we haven’t had a significant number of people opt out because of COVID,” Smith said. “Most of those who did were over 70 years old.”
So far, as of Monday, the court has excused 21 potential jurors for COVID-19 related reasons.
Patty Harris, trial court administrator for the 19th Judicial Circuit, which includes Indian River County, said jury trials have resumed in only a handful of Florida’s 67 counties, but a large percentage of people summoned in those communities have reported for duty.
“We were worried about the response, so we checked with the counties where jury trials resumed,” Harris said. “What we found out is that the potential jurors showed up and said they felt comfortable.
“Indian River has more retirees, so we’ll see what happens, but we’re going to ease our way into this, starting slowly with misdemeanor trials, and make sure the process and protocols we’ve put in place work the way they’re supposed to,” she added.
“If we need to make some tweaks, we will. If not, we’ll begin to ramp things up. But you’re not going to see any murder trials right off the bat.”
Initially, you’ll see mostly one-day, misdemeanor criminal trials in County Court, where only six jurors and one alternate are needed for each case. Civil trials haven’t yet been scheduled because they usually take longer and involve more parties.
The trials that do take place will look far different from any trial you’ve seen before.
The first thing you’ll notice, after you’ve had your temperature taken at the courthouse door and donned a mandatory mask, is the social distancing: Everyone in the building, including the courtrooms and jury rooms, is required to stand or sit at least 6 feet apart.
“We want people to feel safe,” Morgan said.
To that end, a specially selected panel of judges, prosecutors, defense attorneys, court clerks and sheriff’s office representatives – selected by the circuit’s chief judge, Lawrence Mirman – produced courthouse reopening and trial resumption plans.
Here are some of the COVID-related safety protocols the group adopted for resuming trials:
nWhile potential jurors must wear masks, they will be asked to remove them when being questioned during jury selection, so the attorneys can see their facial expressions. During that process, however, no one may be within 11 feet of each other.
nLawyers may stand within 10 feet of jurors, witnesses or judges, but only if they’re wearing a face shield. Each courtroom will have a podium, located at least 10 feet from the bench and jury box, from which lawyers may question witnesses. Only one prosecutor and defense attorney may sit at their assigned tables.
nJurors will be masked during the trial and must remain so during deliberations in the jury room, where small tables will be installed in each corner of the jury room to accommodate social distancing.
Additional safety measures permit only bailiffs to handle evidence in the courtroom, where attorneys will be asked to utilize a photo/video screen to display exhibits as much as possible. The bailiffs and clerks must wear masks.
Judges, though, will wear face shields instead of masks.
“Do you really want to be judged by a guy in a mask?” Morgan asked rhetorically.
Also, witnesses must wear face shields when testifying to allow attorneys, judges and jurors to view their expressions, which can be telling.
As for courtroom communication becoming more challenging when everyone is socially distanced, Morgan said judges and lawyers, particularly defense attorneys, will “embrace technology.”
With social-distancing mandates preventing defense attorneys from sitting within 6 feet of their clients, they will utilize two-way headsets to converse without prosecutors, jurors and judges hearing what they’re saying.
“They’ve been tested,” Morgan said, “and, apparently, they can literally whisper into each other’s ears.”
Technology also will enable attorneys to converse confidentially with judges while remaining 10 feet from the bench.
“They can’t approach the bench because of social distancing,” Morgan said, “but judges have an audio system that can fill the courtroom with white noise, so we can hear each other but the jurors can’t hear us.”
Clearly, a lot of thought and planning has gone into this – enough, perhaps, to make you believe jury trials can be conducted safely, without unnecessarily putting people at greater risk of COVID infection.
Felony trials could be a concern, because some of them would require inmates being transported to the courtroom from the County Jail, where they might unknowingly have been infected with the virus.
But Vaughn doesn’t foresee problems. “I’m sure we can take their temperatures, see if they have any symptoms and use masks and social distancing,” he said.
Besides, Smith said his staff is “taking every precaution,” providing hand sanitizer and disinfectant sprays throughout the courthouse, which will be thoroughly cleaned throughout the day.
We can only hope all those bars, restaurants, theaters and theme parks our governor fully reopened last week are doing the same.