As jury trials resume, courts eager to reduce backlog

Chief justice: Process could take up to a year

By Craig Anderson
Posted 5/31/21

WILMINGTON — Focused on justice and mindful of public health and safety related to COVID-19, stakeholders collaborated when planning to expand operations inside Delaware’s courts.

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As jury trials resume, courts eager to reduce backlog

Chief justice: Process could take up to a year

Posted

WILMINGTON — Focused on justice and mindful of public health and safety related to COVID-19, stakeholders collaborated when planning to expand operations inside Delaware’s courts.

Jury trials and in-person hearings will return Tuesday, while more members of the public will have access to courtrooms and facilities. Staffing will increase, as well.

There’s a massive backlog of cases to clear, including nearly 17,000 criminal matters statewide, and Delaware Supreme Court Chief Justice Collins J. Seitz Jr. said he expects that the “high-volume (courts) will be back on top of things sometime next year.”

The move to Phase 3 of the reopening plan involved input from judges, the Department of Justice, the Office of Defense Services, law enforcement and the Department of Correction.

“We did the best we could. It’s an unprecedented situation, but we have a plan to dig out as quickly as possible,” Chief Justice Seitz said.

Medical experts consulted

Crucial to the process was infectious-disease expert Dr. Alfred Bacon, who was hired by Delaware Courts to advise on the state of COVID-19 in Delaware.

“He gave us the green light based upon watching the trends in vaccination rates in Delaware and positive cases, positivity rate, ... so looking at all that data it was clear to us that it was going to be safe to resume operations as of June 1,” Chief Justice Seitz said.

Concerns surrounding COVID-19’s public threat continue, though, and ample precautions remain in place.

“The public who is coming into our facilities should know that we are still taking the pandemic seriously,” the chief justice said.

He explained that “with temperature checks (and) requiring masking in public buildings, you’ll see courts still respecting social distancing and other sanitizing procedures to make sure that when the public does come into a courthouse, either as a participant in a litigation or as a juror or just the public that has to come into our facilities, they need to know that we’ve taken all precautions necessary to make sure that they’re safe.”

As of May 15, Superior Court had a backlog of 1,562 criminal cases (927 in New Castle County, 319 in Kent and 316 in Sussex) and 157 pending civil cases.

Also, there were roughly 15,600 pending criminal cases in the Court of Common Pleas and 1,100 civil cases backlogged there.

The Justice of the Peace courts had approximately 28,300 backlogged events statewide, including, among others, arraignments, case reviews, trials or show-cause hearings.

Resolving criminal issues is the most pressing facet of the restart, Chief Justice Seitz said.
“Especially for our criminal docket, it’s so vitally important that we start processing our backlog, ... and this is the first step in getting those cases done,” he said.

“Obviously, a lot of those cases will end up pleading right before trial, but you can’t get cases to that point unless you schedule them for trial and have the prospect of a trial on the horizon that gets people to get serious about plea negotiations, so we’re just delighted to start our criminal cases again.”

According to the chief justice, “I think we did a good job balancing public safety with the rights of individuals charged with crimes, but clearly, it’s better to get these cases resolved sooner rather than later.”

Additionally, he said, “Certainly, justice delayed is justice denied, and we did everything we could during the pandemic to make sure that all the people who needed to be held were held out of public safety concerns, and if there wasn’t a public safety concern, we did what we could to make sure that people weren’t incarcerated.”

The courts are bringing in retired judges to oversee some matters, and “it’s remarkable how they’ve agreed to spend their retirement time back where they came from, helping the courts get through the cases,” Chief Justice Seitz said.

As of July 6, the courts will be authorized to return to full staffing.

“We will continue to ease restrictions as conditions permit, but the health and safety of all those who work in or visit Delaware court facilities remain our first priority,” Chief Justice Seitz said.

Some courts not affected

According to Administrative Office of the Courts spokesman Sean O’Sullivan, “The Court of Chancery has no significant pandemic-related backlog, thanks to the use of video technology that allowed the court to keep its docket moving and hold nonjury trials and proceedings by Zoom.

“Similarly, the Delaware Supreme Court was also able to avoid a backlog by holding its proceedings by Zoom.”

Mr. O’Sullivan said Family Court was “largely up to date with their civil and juvenile delinquency (juvenile arraignments are a month or two behind in New Castle County) but do have a backlog in adult criminal matters.”

Recently appointed Chief Defender Kevin O’Connell saluted efforts made leading up to the resumption.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged all aspects of Delaware’s criminal justice system, and we are grateful for the chief justice’s diligence and commitment to public health and safety during the preceding months,” he said.

Speaking on the importance to bring justice in cases, Mr. O’Connell noted that the “Office of Defense Services attorneys and staff continue to work, as they have throughout the pandemic, to zealously advocate for our clients who have waited a long time for their day in court.

“As jury trials begin again, it is important to remember that every single one of our clients is innocent until proven guilty and has the right to a fair, speedy and public trial by jury. The Office of Defense Services will continue to protect our clients’ rights, while safeguarding the health and well-being of our clients, staff and attorneys as we navigate this new normal.”

DOJ relieved

There are no concerns on how delays may have affected defendants and their rights, Delaware Attorney General Kathy Jennings said.

“While we are working with obvious scheduling challenges, the DOJ is committed to seeking justice regardless of any backlog, and our charging/sentencing guidance to (deputy attorneys general) remains unchanged,” she said.

“Defendants who felt their right to a speedy trial was violated by the interruption of jury trials would need to make that argument to the court, and we expect that a judge would agree with us that the delays were reasonable given the courts’ state of emergency.”

There was “absolutely” a sense of relief within the DOJ as the return of jury trials neared, Ms. Jennings said.

“There are victims across Delaware who have been waiting for justice for months or longer,” she said.

Since most defendants don’t take pleas until trial nears, Ms. Jennings said more cases remain pending and will impact scheduling.

“This will result in an increased workload for deputy attorneys general support staff, like paralegals and social workers,” she said. “DAGs have to meet with witnesses, prepare and redact recorded statements, and finalize exhibits for presentation as part of trial prep.”

DAGs in the felony unit, who typically handled anywhere from 200 to 250 cases a year or more, will face even larger challenges now, Ms. Jennings said.

“Many DAGs already work nights and weekends when preparing for trial, and unfortunately, we fully expect that the pandemic backlog will make that practice even more common,” she said. “Support staff will also face a commensurate increase in stress, as they help prepare for older trials, while simultaneously providing discovery in new cases.”

The DOJ will continue to “analyze cases by assessing who presents a danger to the public versus who needs treatment,” she said.

“We encourage deputies to divert defendants who are in need of treatment as much as possible. When a defendant poses a danger to the community, DAGs are expected to do what they can to protect our communities (and diverting low-level offenders in need of services allows DAGs to focus greater attention on these cases). That remains our approach now, and we will continue to evaluate each case on the facts and the interest of justice for victims, the accused and the community.

DOC spokesman Jason Miller said the number of individuals placed in custody pending trial decreased significantly amid the pandemic.

“At the same time, the number of criminal defendants ordered by the court to pretrial supervision in the community through Probation and Parole increased,” he said.

“While that increased the caseload on our pretrial-supervision probation officers, the DOC has maintained sufficient capacity to safely and effectively supervise these individuals in the community.”

Voluntary pretrial treatment programs continued for defendants awaiting their time in court.

“In addition, DOC established more than a dozen new ‘virtual courtroom’ spaces in our prison facilities to provide opportunities for incarcerated defendants to meet remotely with their attorneys and to participate in court hearings from our facilities via Zoom,” Mr. Miller said.

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