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ssharpJACKSBORO, TN. (WLAF) -COVID-19 brought a screeching halt to the way the world operates.
And while most are starting to recover from the shock of March, the local criminal justice system will feel the impact well into 2021.
An order from the Tennessee Supreme Court stopped all in person proceedings in March. This meant jury trials could not take place as scheduled. With trial dockets cross the Eighth Judicial District already overcrowded, delays weren’t needed.
“We have made no good movement on the trial docket since the pandemic,” said Eighth Judicial Criminal Court Judge Shayne Sexton.
In the first few weeks of the pandemic, only cases where the defendant was in jail were placed on the docket; court was conducted via Zoom. In May, those out on bond began appearing on the docket as well while the court continued to operate via Zoom.
Now, the wheels of justice are trying to inch forward.
At the end of July, grand juries for the five counties of the eighth district were seated. Convening in school gyms, potential jurors were socially distanced, masked and impaneled in less than hour.
“I didn’t know what people would do,” Sexton said. In the end, “very few people were resistant” to appearing for jury duty.
It wasn’t an ideal situation, according to Sexton. The acoustics were bad and the gyms lacked air conditioning.
Holding a trial under those conditions isn’t an option.
Yet, with the restrictions enacted by the state supreme court and CDC guidelines, holding a traditional trial isn’t a possibility either.
In Campbell County, the first jury trial is set for September. Sexton is looking at ways to safely conduct that trial. Social distancing will be a big part of the plan.
State fire marshal guidelines allow 110 people in the courtroom. CDC guidelines for social distancing cuts that number to 40.
In a jury trial, the jury is the key. Attorneys for both sides gauge body language and facial expressions. Juries evaluate those nuances in the witnesses and other key players in case.
But when the face is mask covered- how does that play out?
Eighth Judicial District Public Defender Leif Jeffers, who has also served as a prosecutor, sees pitfalls.
“You want to connect with the jurors,” he said. “It is invaluable to be able to do that.” But when faces are covered and speech is muffled, the “danger of being misunderstood, something misinterpreted is huge,” Jeffers said.
When a person is charged with a crime, they are entitled to a trial or they can enter into a plea to have their case resolved. Most cases across the district are taken care of with plea agreements. A plea means both sides come to the table and reach an agreement that is palatable. When that doesn’t happen, an impasse occurs and a jury is used to determine guilt or innocence.
In Campbell County, it was recently announced in court that 17 cases had reached that impasse. These 17 cases are in line behind the cases already docketed for 2020. From the appearance of the docket, few, if any cases have successfully been resolved since March.
Typically, the district attorney’s office is the driving force behind offering a plea to a defendant.
Eighth Judicial District Attorney Jarred Effler believes the public expects cases to be put to a jury instead of negotiated to a resolution. He also said that some defendants want a trial instead of accepting a plea.
“Entering a plea agreement to simply lighten the caseload does not serve victims, nor the interests of justice,” he said.
“Obviously, the supreme court’s order suspending jury trials due to the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in a number of cases awaiting trial. We are maintaining close contact with witnesses, victims and officers in these cases so that we will be prepared once our trials resume,” Effler said in response to his office’s responsibility in working through the backlogged docket.
Criminal court convenes once every three weeks in Campbell County. One day is devoted as an administrative day where pleas are entered and status updates are provided on lingering cases. That leaves four days for jury trials, which includes not only seating a jury for the case but the actual trial itself. These 17 cases could easily eat up all of the 2021 dockets leaving no room to schedule new cases.
Officials are frustrated.
“The efficiency side of court is now gone,” Sexton said. “We have to focus on holding court safely.”
“Everyone is mentally stressed,” Jeffers said.
And while officials are stymied with the predicament, the people sitting in jail are the ones truly at the mercy of the chaos.
“There is a level of frustration among some of them,” said Jeffers. His office represents over 50 percent of the people who appear in court. “They have legitimate concerns.”
Some have considered accepting terms they declined five months ago. Now with an indefinite timeline, they just want to move on. Jeffers and his staff are working with those people in hopes they don’t end up with buyer’s remorse when it comes to accepting a plea.
Aside from the inmates, there are hordes of people out on bond waiting for their cases to be disposed of.
“We have a huge backlog of cases in every court,” Jeffers said. “It will take months to dig out from it.” (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED- 08/10/2020- 6AM)