By Matthew Santoni

Law360 (August 31, 2020, 7:18 PM EDT) -- Courts in Pennsylvania's Fifth Judicial District, which includes Pittsburgh, will extend their COVID-19 emergency through the end of 2020 and won't resume civil or criminal jury trials for the time being, according to a court order issued Monday.

Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark issued the order extending the current state of emergency for the Fifth Judicial District through Dec. 31, 2020. The state of emergency requires most proceedings to be held remotely, while hearings that have to take place in person must be done with masks and social distancing.

"Whenever appropriate and feasible, and as directed by the president judge, the administrative judges of the divisions, and the district court administrator, court proceedings shall be conducted by advanced communication technology, primarily through Microsoft Teams, pursuant to the protocol for teleconference hearings issued by the court," the order says. "Jury trials in both the civil and criminal divisions remain suspended until further order of court."

Allegheny County's common pleas courts have been operating almost exclusively online since a reopening effort was called off in late July. The previous order had suspended all in-person proceedings on the two floors of the Allegheny County Courthouse where most of the criminal court judges practice. Multiple court employees had tested positive for the coronavirus, including an assistant district attorney who died Aug. 11

Criminal court bail hearings, motions, guilty pleas, sentencing and review hearings for the various dispute-resolution and therapeutic courts will continue to be held remotely as much as possible using videoconference technology, though some in-person hearings could resume if necessary as long as the participants followed social distancing guidelines and wore masks or face shields, the order says.

"Paper masks will be provided in each courtroom where the judge determines that a witness, defendant or other participant cannot be heard or understood while wearing a cloth or other mask," the order says. "The judge may permit a witness to temporarily remove a mask to take testimony where the presence of a mask would adversely affect the ability to evaluate credibility. In such cases, the witness will be required to wear a face shield but will put their mask back on whenever approached by an attorney. A participant shall not be asked to lower or remove their mask at any time while they are within 15 feet of another person unless protected by a plexiglass partition."

On the civil side, hearings will continue remotely as long as all parties can communicate online, the order says. Jury trials will not resume until the court says so.

"All published trial lists are temporarily suspended pending further order of court," the order says. "Jury trials shall commence on a limited basis and only where the court enters an order specifically scheduling a jury trial. Parties with cases on previously published trial lists may jointly, with written consent by all parties involved in the litigation, submit consented-to motions to the calendar control judge requesting that their case be scheduled to be tried before a jury."

Landlord-tenant cases will resume with the expiration Monday of a statewide moratorium on evictions.

Allegheny County, Pennsylvania's second-biggest court system, had resumed civil non-jury trials in June and was open to criminal non-jury trials, although attorneys were encouraged to reach pleas or agree to as much as possible beforehand, the order says.

"If a case will be proceeding to trial, the parties are encouraged to stipulate to any evidence or testimony, where possible, to avoid the need for witnesses to be called to testify," the order says. "Where stipulations cannot be reached regarding the testimony of a witness, the parties should discuss whether any witnesses might be permitted to testify via video."

Prosecutors will continue to work remotely as much as possible, rather than from their offices in the courthouse, a spokesperson said.

"We are continuing to encourage remote working within our office, and we will continue to work with the courts to accomplish conferences, hearings, non-jury trials and pleas by videoconference," said Mike Manko, a representative for the Allegheny County District Attorney's Office.

On the other side of the state, Philadelphia was planning to resume criminal jury trials in September, with civil trials likely to stay suspended until next year.

The order and procedures are filed under In re: Amended Fifth Judicial District Emergency Operations Plan, case number 23 WM 2020, in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

--Editing by Alanna Weissman.

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