Jury trials on hold over COVID-19 concerns

Jury trials in the 12th Judicial Circuit, which includes courthouses in Sarasota and Manatee counties, will be suspended effective Aug. 30 because of rising numbers of COVID-19 cases in the region, as ordered by Chief Judge Charles E. Roberts.

Cases in which a jury is scheduled to be selected before Aug. 30 may continue to trial if all parties in the case agree, the chief judge’s order reads.

“Compelling so many people from the community to report for jury duty and then placing them together in jury assembly rooms or courtrooms for extended periods of time creates too great a risk of COVID-19 exposure and cannot continue under current pandemic condition,’’ Roberts wrote in his order, dated Aug. 25.

The order is backed up by a July 2021 executive order from the Florida Supreme Court, empowering chief judges in each of Florida’s 20 circuits to consider local health conditions in determining the use of court resources and the appropriateness of in-person proceedings.

Roberts wrote in his order that DeSoto, Manatee and Sarasota counties show “alarming upward trends.’’

 According Sarasota County’s most recent data, 4,979 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the last 14 days ending Aug. 25. 4,146 new COVID-19 cases were reported in the previous 14 days and 3,501 in the 14 days before that. 

Donna Rhodes, the public information officer for the 12th Judicial Circuit Court, said court proceedings were held via Zoom or in-person with restrictions over the past year. 

In June 2020, the court buildings were opened for limited hearings for criminal arraignments, shelter hearings, termination of parental rights hearings and any case that dealt with possible jail sentence or the loss of some constitutional right, Rhodes said. 

Those who appeared in person were subject to temperature checks, mask requirements, socially distanced courtrooms and limited participation. 

Civil trials were held through Zoom as often as possible, but Karen Rushing, Clerk of Circuit Court and County Comptroller, said there still is a backlog of civil cases because criminal cases took precedence. 

The chief judge’s order will remain in place until he modifies or rescinds it.