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Law360 (August 31, 2020, 10:50 PM EDT) -- Texas state courts should keep in place restrictions on in-person jury trials until at least the end of the year, the state Supreme Court heard Monday in a report detailing lessons learned from 20 jury trials held in the Lone Star State since the start of the pandemic.
The report, released by the state's Office of Court Administration, recommended that the state high court maintain careful limits as the coronavirus pandemic rages on.
"In-person jury proceedings should be limited to district and county courts, including statutory county courts and statutory probate courts, between October 1 and December 31," the report said.
It also recommended that all courts be allowed to hold virtual trials, with the caveat that criminal trials need explicit consent from both sides. Texas has been something of a pioneer in the arena of trials over Zoom; the courts office said it held a webinar in March to train the state's judges in online proceedings.
The state Supreme Court suspended trials throughout the summer, but 20 trials took place under special exception from the high court.
After looking at those trials, the OCA said it would be beneficial for local administrative judges to implement their own detailed plans for trials in their districts. Those plans should involve, for instance, minimizing the sharing of microphones between people, limiting paper exhibits and providing individually wrapped meals to jurors, the office said.
The report noted that all 20 trials that took place were planned out well beforehand. "All of the judges who proposed jury trials had prepared detailed plans for the jury trial, which will be necessary for all jury trials going forward," the OCA said.
The report also noted important considerations for any planned virtual trials. The office is recommending, for example, that courts find a way to "ensure that all prospective jurors have access to technology with which to participate."
As early as mid-March, Texas bought over 3,000 licenses from Zoom to begin holding online proceedings, the OCA said. In May, it tested out what appears to have been the nation's first online trial with a jury, though the verdict was nonbinding.
Other states, including Florida and Alaska, have since taken steps toward holding online trials; Florida held the first Zoom jury trial with a binding verdict in August.
Criminal defendants are among the most severely affected, the OCA suggested.
"Texas courts would typically have tried almost 1,900 jailable criminal cases since the jury trial suspension in March. … A significant population of criminal defendants are awaiting trial, many of whom are still in jail," it said.
--Additional reporting by Daniel Siegal and Katie Pohlman. Editing by Aaron Pelc.
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