My schedule has been crazy lately, in large part because the dam has burst and the COVID-closed courtrooms are opening again, for trials which have long been deferred due to the pandemic.

This is harmful to wrongly-accused defendants in a number of ways, and I’m not the only one who thinks so.

Yet another of the many, many good reasons to avoid things that could end up in court.

9 COMMENTS

  2. A family friend, a young man, recently “celebrated” his 20th birthday in the county jail. He stands accused of a crime for which we believe he’s innocent for a wide variety of reasons (for anonymity’s sake, I won’t delve too much into it).

    But he was accused and arrested shortly after his 18th birthday. He’s been in county for nearly two years awaiting trial. Because COVID.

    At this point, even if he were to be found Not Guilty (which we believe he will be) AND it were to happen tomorrow (it won’t; there’s still no trial date set), he’s going to have a VERY hard time finding a job or a place in which to live, having to explain this two-year gap in education and employment right at the start of his adult life.

    And two of my biggest worries about his case are:
    1. With trials starting to move, the courts have to “triage” and get high-priority cases through first, and I fear his is low on the list. It could be another year or two before he finally has his day in court.
    -and-
    2. With trying to move cases quickly, I fear that a hearing or motion will get processed on such short notice that his legal team isn’t able to respond quickly enough. Some hearings are scheduled for the wee hours of the morning, and this has come dangerously close to happening a couple times already. Thank goodness his case isn’t reliant on expert witnesses from across the country! (No offense, Mas. 😉 )

    It’s also true that there’s no objective measure of just how “speedy” a trial must be to remain consistent with the Sixth Amendment. OTOH, pandemic notwithstanding, I don’t see how spending two-plus years in jail awaiting trial on what should be a pretty straightforward case counts.

    • Archer,

      If he is found “not guilty,” the government should reimburse him financially for time spent incarcerated.

      • Roger Wilco,

        He may or may not have a claim. My understanding is he must have been wrongfully convicted. Absent a wrongful conviction, the state and/or county owe him nothing.

        Which on one hand makes sense; If he wants out now, he and his family could just post bail, which would be reimbursed at trial. On the other hand, they are not financially well-off, and they’re already spending everything they have on a private legal team, which is paying off — they’re doing a much better job than the public defender — but unfortunately, bail is not an option.

        (As an aside: Where’s the “no cash bail” policy now, huh? Only applies to blm/antifa rioters, looters, and arsonists?)

        I hope I’m wrong and he is eligible for compensation and/or reimbursement. But my understanding is it requires a conviction.

      • Archer,

        Thanks for sharing this unfortunate, unjust story. You are correct, “Where’s the ‘no cash bail’ policy now, huh?” Doesn’t apply to Patriots. I wish I could do something about the Trump supporters languishing in the Washington, DC gulag, political prison. Keeping them there, denying them trials, for simply trespassing, is a low-level form of torture. I believe the government should only come down hard on those rioters who assaulted police officers. Let everyone else go home. This has gone on long enough.

        In my dreams, I’d like to be part of a John Brown-style raid to free the Trump supporters held hostage in political prisons in DC. In reality, John Brown’s raid was probably more successful than my raid would be.

  4. It may not be your fault, but it is your problem.

    I heard a story from a someone who claimed to be there as a potential juror that the regular jury instruction VHS(or Beta?) tape was swapped with a pornographic film at Stamford Superior Court some time in the 1980s.

    Apparently the jury pool watched the entire video in total silence. When the film eventually ‘came to a conclusion’ someone in the jury pool said ‘now that’s what I call justice!’

    Justice is a myth. It’s like light beer, soft rock or safe sex. No one wants it.

    The best you can hope for is is to survive the courts and move on with what’s left of your life.

  5. Some states do actually have a mandated period of time for a trial. However, that depended upon the courts working as usual, so I expect that “exceptional circumstances” would either invalidate the requirement or the legislatures cooked up postponement.

    Circumstances permitting, would bench trials speed things up significantly?

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