DENVER — The coronavirus pandemic brought jury trials to a stop in Colorado for months, but the court systems in Denver and elsewhere are calling jurors again, promising protections against COVID-19 in the courtroom.
Restrictions on jury trials will lift Aug. 3, and people can expect to begin receiving summonses as early as this week.
Jury duty will be different than before. Here's a look at what you can expect.
THE SPECIFICS
The courts have been working on plans for this during the pandemic-imposed break. The current plan includes:
- Masks (but in a courtroom where faces are constantly being scrutinized for honesty, there could be legal arguments about who wears a mask and when. There may be times when participants wear face shields instead of masks).
- Six feet between jurors for all stages of participation, from check-in to dismissal. Courthouse floors have been marked with stickers or tape to guide people.
- The number of jurors called to report will be reduced. You could be called with less warning time than before as the courts keep numbers small to analyze the process.
- A summons will include COVID-19 alerts that tell people not to come if they are sick or have a fever. If you test positive, make contact with someone who tests positive or exhibit the symptoms of coronavirus, call (720) 337-0600 or email denverjury@judicial.state.co.us. A person who is at-risk or lives with someone who is at-risk can also request a postponement.
- People are asked to take their temperatures before reporting.
- Plexiglass barriers will be used in all customer service areas.
- Signs encouraging handwashing.
- Evidence presented electronically when possible.
- Baggies over shared microphones.
Q&A
Denver District Court Chief Judge Michael Martinez joined Next with Kyle Clark for an interview about what people can expect when they report for jury duty.
Answers may have been edited for clarity. You can see the full interview here.
KYLE: We’re looking at a time now in Colorado where our case count is on the rise. Our rate is on the rise, and we’re seeing more public health restrictions, not less. Why is this the time to have people back in courtrooms?
I want to make sure that we’re clear, that we are being attentive to the public health concerns, and when people come into jury service now, what they’ll find is a completely different experience, Kyle, than what they had in the past.
We are confident, with the input from public health authorities, in a manner that allows us to reach our constitutional obligation but also allows us to do it safely, fundamentally for the public health of everyone, including the jurors and all participants.
KYLE: I imagine the number one question we’re going to get is, what if I receive a jury summons, and I am at high risk for COVID-19, or somebody in my family is -- do I still have to report?
What we’re asking folks to do is to make sure that they reach out and contact their local jury commissioner. If it’s in Denver, you can reach out to our jury commissioner and let them know of your circumstance. We understand that there are some folks that are not able to serve under these circumstances. We recognized and appreciate that and we’ll honor that, but we also want to make sure we’re giving those folks who want to serve the opportunity to serve, and we have the obligation to go forward with these cases.
KYLE: You mentioned you’re going to be calling a smaller pool. You’re also going to be doing fewer trials, but the fact that you’re so restricted in the number of people you can call, should that signal to the public that you’re much more likely to get seated on a jury if you’re called now?
That's a fair question. I actually hadn't thought of that one, Kyle. I think, what it signals most importantly, is that we're doing our best to uphold our responsibility to protect the rights of individuals that wish to bring a dispute to the courts and have it resolved, whether it's an allegation of criminal conduct or whether it's a significant civil dispute, we have an obligation to afford the venue to those individuals in those cases.
What it signals to the jurors is that we are doing our best to honor that obligation and opportunity.
KYLE: Do you guys have a similar system to schools for the courts? What happens if a juror gets COVID? What happens if somebody in the juror's family gets it? What happens if an attorney gets it?
I can tell you that we definitely have plans for how we would manage those circumstances. Each case is really managed on a case-by-case basis, so we would look at the individual judge hearing the case to make judgments and determinations for that particular case at that time. Obviously, we've taken precautions. We're asking folks, in particular, please don't come if you have any of those circumstances -- if you're at risk to the COVID virus, if you've tested positive, if you are presenting any of the symptoms of the disease -- please don't come. Call your jury commissioner and reschedule.
Certainly, we can't account for all circumstances. If something were to happen of that nature, all judges are experienced and they understand there would be a matter they would have to address. It could involve simply excusing that juror. It could involve declaring a mistrial if it's a criminal case and starting over. It could involve any number of scenarios.
KYLE: Did you guys have a discussion about doing temperature checks at the door?
There are certain constitutional limitations that we have. We are expecting, particularly, if they want to serve, that they're going to follow [self-check] requirements. We've had a couple of other jurisdictions around the state that have started with some soft starts in the last week or so, and they've had similar experiences where a juror might have shown up and realized, maybe I didn't feel right today, and we've just asked them to go home before they ever enter the building.
FULL INTERVIEW: How will jury trials work during the pandemic?
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