Visiting family, meeting friends for dinner or just stepping out in public without having to worry — many Utahns are making the most of a less-fraught reality as the pandemic loosens its grip.
But the ability to gather more freely also may come with an added measure of civic responsibility as the state's court system intensifies a push to work through a backlog of cases.
As COVID-19 case rates decline and more people get vaccinated, Utah's courts are scheduling more jury trials. With a $1 million boost from the Utah Legislature, they're also beefing up the staffing to churn through a big pile of 350 civil and criminal cases throughout the state, said Michael Drechsel, assistant state court administrator.
Roughly 50% to 60% of trials take place in Salt Lake County, so courthouses there are responsible for clearing about half of that backlog, 3rd District Judge Todd Shaughnessy told colleagues on the Utah Judicial Council on Monday. He encouraged fellow judges to fill their calendars with more trials in the weeks ahead, with the understanding that some existing restrictions — like rapid testing for everyone in the courtroom — are likely to go away.
Additionally, he said, most of the cases never get to trial. They tend to resolve ahead of time in plea deals.
The tentative moves are based on the thinking that if current trends continue, the state will open up for more types of in-person proceedings. In one step toward more relaxed rules, the courts on Monday lifted a mask mandate for those who are fully vaccinated.
The $1 million in federal relief money will cover the cost of bringing on semi-retired judges to help the state's existing 77 district court judges handle an extra 380 days worth of work tied to the backlog, Drechsel said. The financial boost will also help cover costs of hiring clerks to help with virtual jury selection ahead of trial, along with other sorts of proceedings.
Since January, the courts have allowed a limited number of jury trials with extra precautions as part of a pilot program. The districts participating include Shaughnessy's 3rd, eastern Utah's 8th, northern Utah's 2nd and the 4th, which consists of Utah County and neighboring counties.
When the pandemic first gripped the state, the Utah Supreme Court prohibited courthouses from holding trials in person unless the county's rate of COVID-19 transmission dips to levels that don't threaten to overwhelm hospitals. Defense attorneys and prosecutors in Utah have resisted participating in a trial over video, citing concerns that a virtual verdict would prove vulnerable to appeals.
Judges have held the experimental trials in the state's biggest courtrooms, with jurors and attorneys in masks. They have allowed potential jurors to avoid serving on the panel if they or those they live with are vulnerable to the virus.
State health officials have said it's no longer necessary for witnesses to testify from inside a clear box connected to a powerful air filter, state courts administrator Mary Noonan told the council. The rule has been in place so that a person on the stand can remain bare-faced, in order for jurors and the parties to better assess physical cues.
Now a witness will be able to sit behind a single pane of plexiglass, a change that will make it easier to hold trials in more courtrooms because they don't need to be retrofitted with the box. The new guidance is "an incredible green light," Noonan said.
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/3oZGPHO
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