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Law360 (December 4, 2020, 5:42 PM EST) -- State courts in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, will suspend jury trials and most in-person proceedings into early January as COVID-19 cases hit record numbers, the county's Pittsburgh-based chief judge announced Thursday.
With Allegheny County reporting more than 1,000 new cases on Thursday, Court of Common Pleas President Judge Kim Berkeley Clark ordered that the shutdown of jury trials last from Monday until at least Jan. 8, with as many other proceedings as possible continuing to be conducted remotely using video or teleconferencing technology.
"This court continues to recognize that due to the rising number of positive COVID-19 tests in Allegheny County, further efforts must be made to reduce the amount of people present in court facilities while keeping the courts open to the public," Judge Clark wrote in her order. "Should the situation in Allegheny County regarding the number of positive COVID-19 tests ... improve prior to January 8, 2021, this order may be modified to permit some additional in-person proceedings including jury trials. Further order of court will be issued on or before January 8, 2021."
The order extended a temporary, two-week closure that was issued Nov. 20. Allegheny County resumed civil and criminal jury trials in October by using its largest courtrooms and space at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh to follow social-distancing guidelines.
Allegheny County's courts suspended jury trials in March, and remain under an emergency declaration due to the pandemic until the end of the year. An earlier move toward reopening the courts was n called off in July amid an outbreak of COVID-19 cases among court employees, including an assistant district attorney who later died.
The website for the Allegheny County courts has a list of positive tests among employees, attorneys and attendees, noting which court office they had been in and when. As of Wednesday, the list was up to 14 entries since the previous court order on Nov. 20.
In-person hearings will continue in only a few circumstances, the court's Thursday order said, including delinquency hearings for juveniles who do not waive their right to appear in person, formal arraignments for defendants who do not waive appearing in person, preliminary hearings for incarcerated defendants in the magisterial district courts and Pittsburgh Municipal Court that can't be conducted remotely, emergency protection-from-abuse hearings, and traffic court, which will continue to be held at the convention center.
Court offices, including the counter for filing motions, the housing court help desk and the Family Law Center, will remain open. All other in-person hearings and trials will be rescheduled and postponed, the order said.
Philadelphia halted jury trials until January two weeks before Allegheny County issued its suspension. The federal court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, citing the ongoing pandemic and the need for larger jury pools to account for more people struggling with work and child care, has postponed all jury trials through early February.
--Editing by Karin Roberts.
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