Mecklenburg courts resumed jury trials during a resurgent pandemic. Now they’re stopping.
Less than a month after resuming jury trials, the Mecklenburg County courts have suspended them for the remainder of the year as officials continue to assess whether they can hold the trials safely during the resurgent pandemic.
How long the postponements last is unclear. For now, Tuesday’s decision by a team of court officials affects a limited number of trials in Superior and District courts, officials said.
But based on the spread of COVID-19 throughout the county and the courthouse, the stoppage could be extended beyond the January dates when criminal and civil jury trials are scheduled to resume, officials say.
“My hope for January is that the decision-makers in the court system continue to heed the advice of our heath director and continue to pay attention to the data,” said Public Defender Kevin Tully, who was among the courthouse officials who attended Tuesday’s remote meeting.
“If we’re in no better shape on health risks in January, the decision we made today shouldn’t be any different. Based on what i heard this morning, I trust that this will be the case.”
Tuesday’s decision follows a series of COVID-19-related setbacks in Mecklenburg’s court system since its partial reopening in mid-November — from the county’s first jury trial in eight months being stopped due to repeated fears of COVID-19 juror exposure, to a surge of inmate illness at the Mecklenburg jail that continues to grow, along with an announcement Monday that Chief District Judge Elizabeth Trosch has contracted the disease.
It also comes as Mecklenburg County continues to meet or exceed health-safety measures on the spread of COVID cases that the courthouse pledged to use in deciding whether jury trials will continue.
On Sunday, state numbers show Mecklenburg hit a record 784 cases reported in a single day. The county’s rate of positive COVID-19 tests has hit a four-month high, and hospitalizations also peaked.
“I don’t think our decision is that surprising,” Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Bob Bell told the Observer. “It’s the nature of the beast. We’re doing as good as we can with what we’ve got to deal with. This is all about the safety of the public and the people who use the courtrooms.”
The move basically returns the courthouse to its previous status under the pandemic: For the most part, only legally required court activity such as first appearances, pleas and bond hearings will take place. Administrative sessions for homicides and other offenses also will continue.
The impact of the new postponements is lessened by the the traditional holiday slowdown in which no jury trials are scheduled for the last two weeks of December. Currently, one criminal trial is underway in Superior Court and will be allowed to finish. No more will be started this week. There are none scheduled until Jan. 11, Bell said.
Since the limited reopening of the courthouse in mid-November, only two criminal jury trials have taken place. Both ended in mistrials. The first was COVID-related. The second resulted from the disqualification of a juror after jury deliberations had begun.
Criminal trials resumed at least in part due to a growing backlog of cases resulting from the COVID-19 shutdown of the courts in March. As of last month, Mecklenburg had more than 700 felony cases awaiting trial, including 100 homicides and 150 others involving rapes, assaults and other violent offenses. District Attorney Spencer Merriweather says the sheer volume of cases could take years to address.
While jury trials for lawsuits will continue through Friday, Bell said, those scheduled for next week have been postponed. They are scheduled to resume after New Year’s. Under the new plan, the courthouse also has cut back on trials in District Court where the judge also serves as the jury.
In the meantime, a smaller group of officials will meet in the coming days to discuss ways to safely reduce the jail inmate population, which is suffering from its worst ever outbreak of COVID-19.
As of Monday, the uptown detention center had 74 active inmate cases, up from 65 cases as of Thursday. In all, some 350 prisoners — up about 100 over last week’s figures — were being housed in health-related isolation or quarantine, according to figures this week sent by the Sheriff’s Office to the federal courts.
