In an attempt to elevate the growing backlog of criminal cases. The real question in my mind is whether you can force people Other states have suspended their speedy trial mandates in response to the pandemic. John Hickenlooper of Colorado and Ron . The statewide court system cut 111 employees this summer and eliminated 95 empty positions in order to reduce its general fund budget by about $34 million amid a statewide shortfall, according to information the judicial branch provided to the legislature's Joint Budget Committee. DENVER During his State of the Judiciary address Thursday, Chief Justice Brian Boatright spoke candidly about a series of allegations involving sexual harassment, discrimination and payoffs at the Colorado courts' highest levels. So they have a lot of latitude to dismiss cases in the interest of justice, to offer more favorable plea bargains, to agree to personal recognizance bonds so that defendants can get out of jail and arent trapped inside with COVID, Gorman said. Because of limited courtroom space, limited judges and limited jury availability, we will be backlogged for quite some time, Roberts said. away from the civil cases and being used to push through criminal but court is in session, running virtually on a Webex platform, The weighting would not be based on which case was filed first. solutions that work vis a vis each of these platforms. The space itself cost $3,500 a day, she said, and while it provided the physical area needed to bring in such a large group, it didnt expand the districts overall trial capacity because it didnt alleviate pressure on staffing, Snyder said. Even while the courts struggled to ease their doors open this fall, the recent upswing of COVID-19 cases and the Governor's response have trickled down to both the state and federal courts. Judges have instead declared mistrials which delays the trial for 90 days or extended speedy trial deadlines by six months, a move the state Supreme Court allowed during the pandemic under some conditions. Mondaq Ltd 1994 - 2023. said his office is working to resolve as many cases as possible before they even make it to trial. "The pros of that situation is that those cases got done much faster and are no longer in the courts. quarter 2021. The backlog is really overwhelming to the system right now, and it impacts the rights of defendants, and it impacts the rights of victims, and it certainly impacts the ability of the system from judges to prosecutors to defense attorneys to keep up, Mason said. And as the world slowed, so slowed the judicial courts. As the world waited for a vaccine, jury trials were put on pause and thousands of defendants and victims were forced to wait to have their day in court. On January 19, 2021, we had 14,635 jury trials scheduled, statewide with over 10,000 of those being criminal trials. Some courts are working, some arent. Mask mandates were imposed and distancing rules engaged. Because ultimately, when were dealing with the flood of cases in the backlog, time is going to run out on us, he added. Supreme Court Court of Appeals. During the five months that Pueblo's combined courts were closed in 2020, attorneys on both sides of criminal cases were asked by Eyler to try and reach plea deals or resolutions of cases outside of a court room. Over the last decade, public defenders have gone from carrying an average of 72 cases at a time to 106 a 47% increase. Webex has been upgraded to show Typically, the state conducts only about 2,700 jury trials annually. Take yourself back. Between January 15 and March 30, 2021, I currently have five trials scheduled, which is a caseload that is really not possible to carry. are sitting for hearings, including evidentiary hearings, and Both the buildings and courtrooms are unusually quietnot a lot of people are there. She worries the bill would double or triple the wait times for trials, leaving those in custody at a higher risk to being exposed to COVID in a congregate environment. Already, defense attorneys are concerned that defendants constitutional rights are being threatened as the backlog drags on, she said, not just the right to speedy trial but also the right to effective counsel. Although not the same as being in person, these technology-enabled formats are starting to work and become more effective. We dont want to have people sitting in jail longer than they need to. For Thomas Raynes, the executive director of the Colorado District AttorneysCouncil, one of the biggest challenges is the lack of consistency between the judicial districts. In 2020, that number jumped to more than 1,000, he said. As litigators, we know it Mintzer Sarowitz Zeris Ledva & Meyers, LLP, Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger, Notice-Prejudice Rule Does Not Apply To Claims-Made Professional Liability Policies, BIPA Broader, Plaintiffs Bolder After Latest Defense Setback At Illinois' Highest Court, Ninth Circuit Blocks California's Ban On Mandatory Arbitration In Employment, Thoughts For In-House Counsel: Attorney-Client Privilege, 10 Things You Should Know About The Dominion v. Fox Defamation Case, What To Expect From The Unexpected: Trial Outlook, In-Person Civil Jury Trials Resume In Philadelphia: What To Know Moving Forward, Pushing Through Omicron The Fractured Impact On Jury Trials Across The Nation, California Asbestos Trials In The Age Of COVID-19. She joined the paper in 2019 and previously worked as a crime reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette in Pennsylvania and the Chattanooga Times Free Press in Tennessee. As a consequence of jury trials being suspended during the pandemic, both federal and state trial courts are contending with a backlog. Not only lawyers but also judges are learning to work with the technology, and are becoming so familiar with the problem, participants are better equipped to work through in real time solutions that work vis a vis each of these platforms. Another argument Gorman makes against the bill is that for misdemeanor crimes, its possible for a person to spend longer in jail waiting for trial than any potential jail sentence they would face if convicted. Even while the courts struggled to ease their Will any of them go? HB 1309 passed the House in a 51-11 vote Friday with three people excused. This means a personal injury case, especially one where In Denver District Court, there are about 447 criminal jury trials set in the next six months, and 344 of those are scheduled for April, May or June. Other trials have slowly begun to move forward after months worth of delays, like the trial of the teen accused of killing Kendrick Castillo in the STEM Highlands Ranch school shooting. City and County) likewise announced that all jury trials would be The legislature could change the general speedy trial deadline, but so far no bills have been introduced to do so. On Feb. 18, 2021, Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian Boatright issued his first State of the Judiciary speech, Building connections: Swerdfeger Construction sells to national company, Pueblo West woman's dreams of owning a food truck come to fruition with Luke Dogs, Your California Privacy Rights/Privacy Policy. As litigators, we know it isnt until litigants are on the cusp of a trial that they truly feel the pressure necessary to settle. Without . In conjunction,Colorado's courts had several hurdles to clear prior to restarting large, in-person proceedings, namely jury trials. ", More: Building connections: Swerdfeger Construction sells to national company. On Feb. 22, Boebert introduced a bill to the Natural Resources committee titled the "American Energy Act," aiming to cut through the red tape to make it easier for energy companies to drill. Some lawyers are inviting clients into their preference over commercial cases. Colorado courts are re-opening, but the backlog will be slow to work through with physical distancing requirements. Our staff and the courts and the judges around the state, theyre doing what they can to clear it. The court can currently hold about 24 felony and misdemeanor jury trials a month. distant jury selection. There are just too many variables to get a real clear idea of how long its going to take to get through cases on the criminal docket statewide, he said, adding that cases that require a speedy trial will be bumped to the top of the list. We have to recognize that we could put all the precautions in place, and theres still the possibility of people getting sick, said Dougherty, whose county held its first jury trial on Tuesday. These are people who have not been convicted, are presumed innocent and then we have people who cant pay the bond, and theyre sitting and languishing in our jails, she said. They have also been conducting over video calls other court proceedings that dont require a jury. Statewide backlogs in the competency process that predated the COVID-19 pandemic were exacerbated over the last two years as staffing shortages and capacity restrictions further limited the number. As most juries contain 6 or 12 jurors, depending on the type of court, plus alternate jurors, the practice was not an easy one to implement in a court room, there's only so much space to socially distance 12 or more people, and a crowd of several dozen jurors would be nearly impossible to seat with adequate distance. In a normal year, the office typically sees an excess of 100 to 200 felony cases when comparing newly-filed cases with resolved cases, he said. Newsline is based in Denver, and coverage of activities at the Capitol are central to its mission, but its reporters are devoted to providing reliable information about topics that concern readers in all parts of the state, from Lamar to Dinosaur, from Durango to Sterling. the same room as the witness. The bill also promises to answer Sgamma's request from the hearing, by extending the term of APDs from two years to four years. (CCC): an affordable online mediation program available throughout Colorado. Our staff and the courts and the judges around the state, theyre doing what they can to clear it. By: Meghan Lopez The delays in the court cases can be emotionally overwhelming for victims who prepared themselves for court only to have the case delayed or declared a mistrial. In an attempt to elevate the growing backlog of criminal cases, Dougherty said his office is working to resolve as many cases as possible before they even make it to trial. So thats some of the difficulty, the lack of continuity throughout the state by the judiciary., Alleviating the backlog in criminal cases. On Feb. 18, 2021, Colorado Supreme Court Chief Justice Brian Boatright issued his first State of the Judiciary speech, noting that the state had a backlog of more than 14,600 cases, with over 10,000 belonging in criminal court. front of counsel tables and sandwich baggies on microphones. 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Mondaq uses cookies on this website. But its going to affect court operations for some time. To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. POPULAR ARTICLES ON: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration from United States. trials set close together are being denied. showing up for work. But its difficult to tie the higher caseloads directly to COVID-related jury trial delays, Cain said, noting that the office also hasseen a marked increase in serious felony charges in the cases it takes on. Its just slowed us down to say, What can we do in this situation, and OK, what can we do in this (other) situation, she said. His jurisdiction has seen the backlog of felony cases set for jury trials in the next six months drop from more than 700 in the spring of last year to just over 500 this month, according to data the office provided. The pandemic-induced delays created a massive backlog of cases awaiting jury trials in 2021, and while court operations have since largely returned to normal, a historically-high backlog. It is overwhelming, and weve had the judicial branch of our government come to the legislature here and ask for some relief, and they dont normally do that. It is also part of the information that we share to our content providers ("Contributors") who contribute Content for free for your use. Often you have one more experienced attorney and one less experienced attorney on a case to build up their experience, and we dont have the luxury of doing that right now.. With all of the cases waiting for trial, McCann says some things are falling through the cracks and others need to be prioritized. We have to. zoom, as are depositions, made possible because court reporters are At the pace felony jury trials are currently happening in Adams and Broomfield counties, it would take seven years for the courts to get through just the trials scheduled in the next six months. The system, to my knowledge, has never had to stop the way it has with this pandemic. That remains to be seen but the justice system has an obligation to move forward despite these challenges. Give Light and the People Will Find Their Own Way, teen accused of killing Kendrick Castillo. The justice system is weighted down by a backlog that grows If that continuance is granted, a second portion of the bill would require another bond hearing for the defendant with the presumption of release. After will go as currently scheduled because no one knows what will Shes been a reporter since 2012, focused on criminal justice. 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