NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – There hasn’t been a jury trial in Hampton Roads since March. Both defense attorneys and prosecutors are wondering when and how they will begin again.
There’s reason why it’s been months since there’s been a jury trial in the area.
“I think it is because the courthouses are petri dishes,” said defense attorney Andy Protogyrou.
And with a virus that’s so easily spread, how can you pack courtroom with jurors, witnesses, attorneys and family members?
“I’m happy that I can think of the problems and don’t have to come up with a solution,” added defense attorney Scott Flax. “I think the solution is just going to be time.”
The issue with time is that defendants who are waiting in jail for jury trials will continue to sit behind bars.
“It’s tough to have to say to them (inmates) ‘Look there is nothing we can do,’” Flax said.
Right now, courthouses in Hampton Roads are coming up with a plan for jury trials. That plan has to be approved by the state Supreme Court before they can start.
“When it first hit in March, we saw that cases were being continued,” Protogyrou added. “In just 30 business days, we continued 53 criminal cases I knew at that point that we were going to run into problems.”
Most courthouses are only going to have one courtroom for jury trials, and will do one trial at a time. Defense Attorneys can’t see that even happening at this point.
“This is the first time since the pandemic started that today I had four cases in Norfolk that could have been closed — except that two of the four had to be continued,” Protogyrou said. “One client tested positive for COVID-19 and the other client is being tested today.”
And then there are the jurors.
“To have a jury, you need jury members, and if people aren’t willing to come to court because they have a fear, that’s a concern,” Flax added.
“We need members of our community who represent all walks of life to come in serve,” said Portsmouth Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Morales.
Prosecutors say jurors need to feel safe so everyone gets a fair trial.
“If we have members of our community who have been impacted by COVID-19, their health has been impacted or their job has been impacted or psychologically they aren’t in the state where they can feel and they can’t serve as jurors, then we are at a loss,” Morales added.
Protogyrou would like to see local courthouses use schools to do trials if schools closed come the fall.
