Published on: Friday, November 6, 2020

Trials in Colorado’s federal courts have now been suspended until January 8, 2021 because of the escalating danger presented by the novel coronavirus (article available here).

The federal District Court for the District of Connecticut was poised to hold its first pandemic jury trial later this month (article available here). However, the court postponed the trial on Wednesday because “the court could not find enough jurors willing to sit in court and hear the evidence.” This was “a setback for the federal district court in Connecticut, where the judges have worked for months with virologists, air circulation experts, information technology consultants and others to configure a courtroom that could keep participants in a jury trial safe.”

Federal courts in Minnesota are suspending jury trials until next year. In a general order posted Wednesday, the court ordered that all criminal trials that have not already commenced as of November 4 are suspended through December 31, 2020. Minnesota is experiencing high COVID-19 infection rates statewide and active COVID-19 cases are at record highs, the order notes. Federal courts in Minnesota had resumed limited jury trials in September after developing a protocol to help protect the health and safety of those involved, the order notes.