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Law360 (November 6, 2020, 3:06 PM EST ) Massachusetts is delaying and scaling back plans to resume jury trials at courthouses across the state, now planning to hold a limited number of trials starting in late November as the spread of the coronavirus accelerates across the state.
Massachusetts had hoped to restart jury trials on a severely limited basis as soon as late September, but the Supreme Judicial Court said Friday it decided to delay "due to the current situation in the commonwealth with respect to COVID-19."
In its last statement on jury trials in mid-September, the court said the timeline could shift if case counts spike.
The court plans to follow its advisory committee's recommendations for an initial two-month phase of limited trial sites. But the number of locations and cases heard in that initial phase will be even more limited than first planned, the court said Friday.
Starting the week of Nov. 30, three to five courthouses that have met the environmental and engineering requirements will hold a single jury trial each week. A spokeswoman for the SJC said the court is awaiting final reports that will determine which courthouses will hold trials.
"The limited resumption of jury trials is intended to balance the safety of everyone who enters a courthouse with the fundamental constitutional right to a trial by jury," the court said in a statement. "These trials will help guide court leaders as they consider moving to Phase 2 of the plan for the gradual resumption of jury trials."
An August report from the court committee tasked with restarting jury trials during the pandemic acknowledged there won't be a risk-free way to do so. It noted that 3,000 jury trials had been scheduled but not held by that time due to the health crisis.
Also on Friday, the court released a nearly four-minute video explaining what potential jurors can expect if they are summoned to serve.
The video urges potential jurors to self-screen at home for any virus symptoms and tells anyone who doesn't feel well not to come to the courthouse.
Some jurors will be called in the morning and some in the afternoon to limit the number of people present at any time, the video says. Court officials will ask potential jurors health questions upon arrival, and masks will be required at all times.
--Editing by Marygrace Murphy.
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