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Law360 (June 8, 2020, 10:02 PM EDT ) Florida Supreme Court Chief Justice Charles Canady on Monday extended the suspension of jury trials in Florida state courts until July 17 due to the coronavirus pandemic and said in a memorandum that guidelines for the resumption of in-person court proceedings are still a work in progress.
The chief justice also extended the deadline for five circuit courts participating in a remote civil jury trial pilot program to report their findings and recommendations until Oct. 2.
This is the fourth extension of the chief justice's initial March 13 decree, which represented the first time a limit on face-to-face proceedings was ordered in Florida since 1972, when the state's court system was unified.
In a memorandum to the chief judges of the state's trial and appellate courts, Justice Canady said that based on new information from the Workgroup on the Continuity of Court Operations and Proceedings During and After COVID-19 and "evolving medical guidance," it has become apparent that reevaluation and clarification may be needed for certain benchmarks in a four-phase reopening process announced last month.
In particular, the chief justice cited questions that some judicial circuits have asked about a requirement that there be improving COVID-19 health conditions in the local community over a 14-day period before the courts can enter Phase 2, which would authorize limited in-person contact and court proceedings with protective measures.
"I recognize that some courts are in the process of determining whether, or have already determined that, the benchmarks for moving into Phase 2 are satisfied," Justice Canady said. "I applaud the efforts to keep the work of courts moving consistent with public safety. However, I want to make you aware that this re-evaluation of certain benchmarks and the implementation of certain requirements and guidelines is underway and encourage you to proceed judiciously in moving into or operating under Phase 2, in the event refinements are made. I anticipate that the re-evaluation and any clarification will be resolved soon."
The chief justice stressed that it is important that all health and safety concerns are satisfied before expanding in-person court proceedings, including jury activity. In addition to extending the suspension on jury trials, which was set to expire July 2, his order also extended a suspension of proceedings for a statewide grand jury investigating school violence until July 26.
The transition to Phase 2 is expected to be a central part of a June 11 chief judge meeting, Justice Canady said.
Additionally, the chief justice pushed back the deadline for reports on the remote civil jury trial pilot program to Oct. 2 from an original July 31 target date.
On June 3, the COVID-19 Workgroup tabbed Jacksonville's Fourth Judicial Circuit, Daytona Beach's Seventh Judicial Circuit, Orlando's Ninth Judicial Circuit, Miami-Dade County's Eleventh Judicial Circuit and Fort Myers' Twentieth Judicial Circuit to hold civil jury trials with remote technology to see if they could offer a safer alternative to in-person jury trials.
In May, Justice Canady added non-jury trials, motion hearings, arraignments in county court misdemeanor cases, hearings in juvenile delinquency cases, hearings in noncriminal traffic infractions and case management hearings to the list of court proceedings using remote technology.
In his earlier orders, Justice Canady had directed all circuit and county courts to fulfill their responsibility to conduct proceedings critical to the current state of emergency or the public health emergency but told each circuit's chief judge to cancel or postpone any nonessential proceedings unless they could be conducted remotely.
The Supreme Court has heard oral arguments with all of its justices and attorneys in separate locations for the first time in history because of the pandemic.
The state has been gradually lifting restrictions put in place to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.
As of 11 a.m. Monday, the number of known COVID-19 cases in Florida was 64,904, including nonresidents, an increase of 966 cases compared to the day before, according to the Florida Department of Health. The state also reported 2,712 virus-related deaths as of Monday, which was up by 12 from the previous day.
--Editing by Jay Jackson Jr.
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