By Lauren Berg

Law360 (March 5, 2021, 10:09 PM EST ) The top judge for the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., said Friday that the court will restart criminal jury trials on a limited basis on March 15, citing the "generally improving state" of the coronavirus pandemic locally and the "lengthy pretrial delay being experienced by many defendants."

In a six-page order, Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell said the D.C. federal court would begin a limited resumption of criminal trials between March 15 and Aug. 31, saying each trial would likely require the use of multiple courtrooms for jury selection in order to maintain social distancing.

Because multiple courtrooms will be necessary, no more than one jury selection will take place on a given day and no more than three trials will take place at one time, according to the order. Efforts will also be made to segregate the trials on separate floors of the courthouse, the judge said.

"The court will prioritize trials with detained defendants and will schedule trials according to a master trial calendar," Judge Howell said.

Prospective jurors will be screened with a short health checklist, and their temperatures will be checked upon arrival at the courthouse, the judge said. Everyone will be required to wear masks.

Video screens will be used to facilitate simultaneous general questioning during jury selection so all jurors spread across different courtrooms can all see the presiding judge and trial participants, the judge said.

Once the trial gets going, all participants will be screened at the door of the courthouse and everyone will be required to wear masks and practice social distancing, according to the plans for reopening. The courtroom will also be reconfigured for safety, including designated seating and plexiglass barriers.

Civil trials will continue to be suspended through June 1 to let the court prioritize urgent criminal cases, according to the order. After June 1, the scheduling of criminal trials will continue to receive precedence through Aug. 31, the judge said.

All jury trials in the D.C. district have been suspended for nearly a year after the courthouse shut down all onsite hearings and proceedings last March at the start of the pandemic.

Many courts around the country are beginning to test the waters of holding in-person trials.

Also on Friday, the New Jersey Supreme Court gave the signal that juries could return to state courtrooms as early as May 17, while the Texas Supreme Court issued a revised emergency order easing COVID-19 restrictions on court proceedings after Gov. Greg Abbott announced an end to the statewide mask mandate. Despite a previous statement that the governor's announcement would not curb the court's restrictions, mask and physical distancing requirements will now be at the discretion of local presiding judges.

And earlier this week, Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold D. Melton said he will lift the current suspension of jury trials in state courts on March 9.

But it hasn't all been smooth sailing for courts trying to conduct jury trials during the pandemic.

On Friday, it was decided that a major trial against opioid makers by New York's attorney general and local governments will not start at the end of March as planned.

While a juror hearing conspiracy charges against two men accused of tricking banks into processing $150 million of marijuana transactions tested positive for the virus, the judge said Thursday that the trial will continue.

And with the number of coronavirus cases still high in the county, jury trials will remain on hold in Pittsburgh courts.

--Additional reporting by Khorri Atkinson, Nick Muscavage, J. Edward Moreno, Cara Salvatore, Pete Brush and Matthew Santoni. Editing by Peter Rozovsky.

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