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Law360 (April 20, 2021, 2:02 PM EDT) -- Criminal jury trials can resume in the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas later in April, using Pittsburgh's convention center to provide enough room for social distancing amid the coronavirus pandemic, the state court's president judge ordered.
President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark said Monday that jury selection could begin April 27 for any cases the criminal division administrative judge determines are ready to proceed after a monthslong pause that started during a surge in virus cases in November.
"Jury selection for all matters shall take place in the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. ... For purposes of this order, the David L. Lawrence Convention Center is deemed to be a court facility. All provisions regarding court facilities contained in the emergency operations plan order entered on August 31, 2020, and its attachments shall continue to apply and shall apply to the convention center," Judge Clark's order said.
Monday's order did not affect the court's family and civil divisions, which were still suspending jury trials and most other in-person proceedings in favor of conducting as much as possible with video- and phone conferencing.
Most proceedings have been held online since the outset of the pandemic. The county briefly resumed in-person trials using the convention center in October, but a surge in cases caused the courts to pause most in-person proceedings Nov. 20. Judge Clark extended that pause repeatedly since then, including an order that all courts provide a virtual-access option. A lawsuit by a civil rights watchdog group accused one judge in the criminal division of making court observers come to the courthouse in person, but that case was paused based on Judge Clark's March 26 order.
Under Monday's new order, criminal trials will take place in some of the largest courtrooms in Downtown Pittsburgh: Courtroom 313 in the Allegheny County Courthouse — which has a larger observation gallery than most of the other courtrooms — and the civil division's jury selection room in the adjacent City-County Building.
Extra security will be set up at the convention center to match the X-ray screenings in place at the courthouse and the City-County Building, and staff will conduct temperature checks and questioning about symptoms and exposures for anyone entering the jury selection areas or courtrooms, the order said.
Social distancing will be observed within the court facilities and masks will be required, Judge Clark ordered. Members of the public and the media will only be able to observe via video from a separate courtroom or a room set aside for observers.
Federal jury trials for the Western District of Pennsylvania remain paused until at least May 3 under that court's most recent order. Philadelphia's state courts resumed limited in-person criminal and civil trials as of March 1, and the Eastern District of Pennsylvania is also still pausing in-person trials into May.
Representatives for Allegheny County court administration declined to comment Tuesday.
--Additional reporting by Matt Fair. Editing by Stephen Berg.
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