Jury trials will resume Jan. 6 at the La Plata County Courthouse.
Sixth Judicial District Chief Judge Jeffrey Wilson signed an administrative order Friday that lifts a previous order prohibiting jury trials to help prevent the spread of COVID-19.
The order issued Friday says COVID-19 related safety concerns that caused the suspension of jury trials on Sept. 22 have “substantially decreased,” and therefore jury trials will be allowed starting early January.
The order references rates of vaccinated people ages 18 and older, the availability of vaccine booster shots for fully vaccinated adults and a “significant reduction” in positive COVID-19 tests as the primary reasons for allowing jury trials to resume.
The administrative order that suspended jury trials in September cited San Juan Basin Public Health data that showed a one-week incidence rate of 307 positive COVID-19 cases in La Plata County.
The one-week incidence rate as of Friday was 259, according to SJBPH’s COVID-19 data dashboard.
Chandler Griffin, spokesman for SJBPH, said the delta variant was behind a spate of outbreaks and a surge in cases as of Nov. 26. At that time, there were 10 active outbreaks in La Plata County; as of Friday, there were 12 active outbreaks, according to the SJBPH dashboard.
Jury trials have been suspended three times since COVID-19 entered the scene, said 6th Judicial District Court Executive Eric Hogue.
Hogue said the court will continue to practice social distancing, mask use, and use health assessments and screenings. Avenues will be in place for jurors and members of the public to speak with court staff members if they are feeling wary or uncomfortable about health precautions at the courthouse.
“We’ve been monitoring COVID cases throughout the 6th Judicial District,” he said. “La Plata County has continued to perform well and stabilize.”
Hogue said the court is of the position that it is time to safely return to jury trials. It will not host multiple jury trials simultaneously to avoid having large groups of people in the building at once.
Jury trials would be impossible to hold virtually while preserving defendants’ and parties’ rights, Hogue said. Defendants’ ability to confront their accusers would not exist in a virtual environment.
The assurance that jurors are protected also becomes lost in a virtual environment.
“As a group they would need to gather collectively and deliberate,” he said. “All of those things would not be possible in a virtual format.”
cburney@durangoherald.com
