Jury Trials Set To Resume in Broome County

Broome County Court will hold its first Jury trial this month since the start of the pandemic, as the court system, and Jury Duty selections begin again.

Speaking on WNBF’s Binghamton Now last Friday Broome County District Attorney Michael Korchak said “Obviously these are very challenging times in our community, and the court system as well, but the work of the District Attorney’s office, and dedicated law enforcement agencies haven’t stopped because of COVID-19”

Jury duty is going to be a little different experience Korchak says “every potential juror is going to be screened, they’ll be scheduled to come in at different times, the court facilities are being cleaned and disinfected, and social distancing will be in place, and masks will be provided to witnesses and jurors”

The District Attorneys office and the court infrastructure have worked hard to put these procedures into place

Korchak says we do have a back log of cases, but everyone is entitled to a trial, and we’re ready to go forward with those trials, with the safety guidelines put into place by the court systems

The first Jury trial will begin on September 14^th  and the court system will continue to increase the jury trials as we move forward.

When asked how will the court room look during the actual jury trial, Korchak said “The Jurors will be in the room, but they will be separated by social distancing, everyone will wear a mask and all participants will practice the same guidelines, the same guidelines apply to the Jury deliberation process”.

Korchak says if someone is testifying as a witness, you have to be able to see their face, so witnesses will wear some type of face shield, or maintain the proper distance from others.

The court administration is making every effort to reduce the amount of people that are actually in the courthouse, so there are some options for individuals appearing in court to come in, and some may use video technology like Skype.