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Over the spring and summer of 2021, courts slowly began to reopen across the country, and even more slowly, jury trials resumed. For public defense systems, starting back up brings new challenges. This article explores the most serious reopening issues faced by public defenders across the country, including backlogs, prolonged detentions, and balancing online and in-person proceedings.
Backlogs
The single biggest problem faced by public defenders as the pandemic begins to ease is the massive backlog of cases, particularly jury trials. While some jurisdictions never closed in-person court, most did, bringing criminal trials to a halt. New York City, the most populous jurisdiction in the country, held just nine criminal jury trials from March 2020 to January 2021-less than 1 percent of the number held during the same period the prior year. Nicole Hong & Jan Ransom, Only 9 trials in 9 Months: Virus Wreaks Havoc on N.Y.C. Courts, NY Times, Dec 2, 2020.
Where possible, public defenders and prosecutors worked hard to resolve cases, but in some instances, resolution by agreement simply was not possible. An impasse is most common for higher-level felony cases, in which prosecutors are hindered by or unwilling to depart below lengthy mandatory minimums. These have also been among the hardest cases to try during the pandemic because the trials are often lengthy. While judges have been willing to try some smaller cases, requiring jurors to come to the courthouse for a day or two, they have been far more hesitant to hold trials lasting a week or more. And while in many categories crime rates diminished during the pandemic, in other categories crime rates rose significantly, most notably murder cases.
As a result, a significant number of backlogged cases are murder cases. In Butte County, California, for example, 18 of the 600 backlogged cases in superior court are murder cases. Dani Masten, 600 Cases at Butte County Superior Court Backlogged Due to the Pandemic, Action News Now, June 30, 2021. Butte County District Attorney Michael Ramsey reports that the backlog of 18 represents approximately the number of murder cases they would usually try in two years. Washington has 225 pending murder cases, compared to last year when they had 140. Jim Rogers, Justice Delayed: COVID-19s Staggering Criminal-Case Backlog, Seattle...