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Law360 (March 9, 2021, 9:14 PM EST) -- The federal district including Atlanta said Tuesday it's extending a suspension of jury trials until May, when it expects to be able to resume them if the current downward trend of COVID-19 infection rates continues along with more vaccines being distributed.
Northern District of Georgia Chief Judge Thomas W. Thrash Jr. said that although the number of COVID-19 infections in the district has been declining, he is extending a moratorium on jury trials currently set to expire in April for one more month.
"Assuming the favorable trends continue in both critical areas, the court anticipates that it will be able to resume jury trials more safely in May and intends to do so absent unforeseen developments," the judge said in an updated order.
The judge last updated the order in January when he extended a ban on trials until April, citing statistics at the time that showed Georgia with the fourth-highest rate in the country of COVID-19 hospital admissions per hospital beds.
According to Thrash's Tuesday update to his order, at the beginning of March Georgia's seven-day daily average for new cases of COVID-19 was reported at 2,871, with a 14-day average positivity rate greater than 12%. The order has been amended 11 times since last March when the coronavirus first caused the district to shut down much of its operations.
"Conditions at the district level remain unfavorable, with many of the district's counties among the top counties for reported new cases, especially those in the greater metropolitan area, but also some more rural counties," the judge said.
The number of Georgians receiving one dose of a vaccine was at 12%, with 7.3% receiving both doses, the judge said.
"As a result of the continuing high rates of infection and the low percentage of people vaccinated, the court concludes that before jury trials may be safely resumed, another month is needed to allow for a further decline in the infection rate within the district and for a further increase in the number of people vaccinated," the judge said.
The judge also said the extension of the jury trials suspension will also allow for more members of the bench and bar, as well as the public, to be vaccinated.
Georgia's top state judge also announced on March 1 that he will lift the current suspension of jury trials in state courts on Tuesday.
Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton urged his fellow judges to "dust off" their pandemic-era jury trial plans and make them publicly available so those called to jury duty can be confident their health will be protected. While chairing the remote meeting of the Georgia Judicial Council, he said all eyes will be on how state courts handle the resumption of jury trials.
Justice Melton suspended jury trials in December, citing increased COVID-19 infection and death rates in the Peach State since he had first allowed courts to resume jury trials in October.
--Additional reporting by Rosie Manins. Editing by Ellen Johnson.
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