Idaho Supreme Court says jury trials can restart in March, with COVID-19 limitations
Jury trials for criminal and civil cases will resume on March 1, according to a new order issued this week from the Idaho Supreme Court.
Trials may go forward as long as courts follow COVID-19 limitations, and grand juries will be subject to the same conditions.
On Dec. 10, 2020, the Idaho Supreme Court ordered a halt to jury trials amid an increased level of coronavirus spread. The move followed the court’s own guidelines in pausing trials, as it had drafted an order in September that allowed certain trials to go forward as long as COVID-19 incidence rates allowed it.
The new Supreme Court order gives prioritization to schedule criminal cases in March that involve incarcerated defendants. After that, priority will be given to all other criminal cases, and the final prioritization will be for civil cases.
During his State of the Judiciary Address, Idaho Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Bevan said there were more than 40,000 cases yet to be resolved in the court system.
According to the Wednesday order, if the coronavirus caseload were to rise once more, trials could be postponed.
The guidelines set forth that If a county’s seven-day moving rate of confirmed or presumed cases exceeds 25 per 100,000 people, a trial could be postponed. That statistic will be based on case data collected by the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare, according to the court’s order.
A trial also could be postponed if a county has a seven-day moving average between 14 and 24.9 cases per 100,000 people, and an upward 14-day trend. Court administrators must publish COVID-19 incident rates on Friday morning each week.
The statewide moving incidence rate sat at 21.5 per 100,000 people as of Thursday. The Ada County rate was 21.6 and Canyon was 20.7. Two North Idaho counties where the virus has been problematic, Kootenai and Bonner, were above the threshold this week. Kootenai was at 26.9 per 100,000 and Bonner was at 42.8.
Blaine County, which has seen a resurgence during the ski season, tops the state in 7-day moving average at 58.3. Madison County, in eastern Idaho, has a rate of 44.4 per 100,000 people.
Once a trial begins, it should continue to a verdict unless the assigned judge determines that a significant change in the county’s coronavirus situation or recent public health action justifies the temporary suspension of the trial.
Trials must follow all other safety protocols outlined in a separate order from July. That order allows people age 65 or older to be excused from a jury if they want, among other conditions.
This story was originally published February 5, 2021 at 12:36 PM.
