5 questions for Carson City DA Jason Woodbury regarding court system under quarantine

This installment of Carson Now's five questions are answered by Carson City District Attorney Jason Woodbury, who explains what changes the court system has made during the quarantine.

1) I'm wondering what changes the courts have undergone due to the quarantine. For example, are all criminal proceedings pushed off until the quarantine is over?
 
Not all, but many. In general, as long as a defendant is not in custody, the courts, defense attorneys, and my office are working together to either postpone proceedings or to conduct them in a way that doesn’t require convening a group of people together. For example, in some cases, we are able to process proceedings through “pleas in abstentia.” Basically, our office creates a written document that outlines an agreement to resolve a case with a guilty plea. The written document is signed by the prosecutor, the defendant, and the defendant’s attorney.  The judge reviews the document and imposes a sentence in a written judgment of conviction. Normally, that would occur in open court, but during the pandemic, the whole proceeding is conducted on paper and no one ever appears in court.
 
With defendants in custody, the situation is a little more challenging. Those defendants have a right to a speedy trial (60 days from arraignment in Nevada) and preliminary hearings for felony cases at the Justice Court (15 days from first appearance). The law does allow a court to exceed those statutory deadlines in extraordinary circumstances, which this clearly is. However, to my knowledge, none of our courts in Carson City have exceeded those deadlines in any of the cases that are pending here.
 
2) How does that work if a defendant has not waived their right to a speedy trial? 


 
While the court has the power to extend the speedy trial deadline under the present extraordinary circumstances, to my knowledge that has not occurred. Proceedings for people in custody are going forward as normal.

3) In that instance, has the jury process changed due to the 6-foot rule?

There has not been a jury trial conducted since the social distancing rules and recommendations have gone into effect. So, in that sense, yes it has changed because all jury trials through the end of May have been moved out to later dates. As a practical matter, it would be impossible to conduct a jury trial and comply with social distancing rules.
 
4) Are public defenders still able to meet with clients?
 
For clients in custody, they have reasonable access to telephones. I am not aware of any modification that the jail has made to attorney visitation regulations, but you would have to check with the Sheriff’s Office to be sure. With their clients who are out of custody, I expect the Public Defenders office is doing the same thing we are with our meetings with victims, witnesses, and law enforcement officers. We conduct those meetings via video conference, telephone, or e-mail whenever possible, and observe social distancing and disinfectant recommendations when personal meetings are absolutely necessary.
 
5) Are any additional precautions being made for court staff, DA staff and defendants?
 
Here are the measures we have implemented in my office:
 
1. Non-essential personnel have been indefinitely furloughed;
2. Essential personnel who can perform their functions in limited hours are working a reduced schedule;
3. Essential personnel who can perform their functions from home are working from home;
4. For those functions that require a personal presence in the office, we have divided our personnel into two teams; one team works in the office one week while the other works from home, then the teams switch the following week;
5. Our attorneys are attending court proceedings telephonically whenever they are permitted to do so;
6. Our office is open, but we have limited personal meetings in the office to appointment only;
7. Personal meetings in our office are required to take place in a conference room which is wiped down and disinfected after each meeting; and
8. The use of masks, gloves, and eyewear has been recommended for our staff, but is not mandated at this time.
 
Go here to learn more about Jason Woodbury, Carson City's elected District Attorney.