I recently received a jury duty summons. With everything that is going, do I still need to serve on a jury? Should I ignore it?
— James P., Daly City
It is true that many courtrooms have begun hearing jury trials. But many courts are prioritizing criminal cases. The Los Angeles courts have been focusing on the 7,000 criminal cases that are currently backlogged, according to Presiding Judge Eric Taylor.
This is pushing aside civil cases, leaving many victims anxiously waiting for their personal injury trial. The delayed cases include people badly injured in car accidents, medical malpractice, workplace accidents, sexual assault and workplace harassment.
The delays primarily are attributable to the pandemic shutdown of 2020. Because of the apparent second surge of COVID-19 cases, various California counties are reinstating previous pandemic restrictions and quarantines. This trend may soon cascade to every county across the state and that could mean additional trial extensions that will continue to backlog all cases. This legal landscape is justifiably frightening to those awaiting verdicts.
There is another reason for delays that is plaguing every court across the state, so much so that even criminal trials are being delayed. Jury trials, whether criminal or civil, are paralyzed without a key component: Jurors.
Within the past few months, courts from Sacramento to San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego have had to delay trials because too few people responded to jury...
Read Full Story: https://www.sfweekly.com/news/sidebar/lack-of-jurors-paralyzing-criminal-civil-trials/
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