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LA County Is Ready To Try Resuming Jury Trials
Seal of LA Superior Court.
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Jury trials in L.A. County stopped back in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But now the Superior Court says with increased cleaning and social distancing precautions, it’s ready to bring people back into courtrooms.
Today was supposed to be the first jury trial in months. Court staff required masks and limited the room to 25 people. Potential jurors will be brought into court in groups of 15; the first batch was spread out across the courtroom.
But the trial was delayed because the defendant is in a county jail dorm that was quarantined due to a possible COVID-19 exposure.
The quarantine was later lifted, so the court says it will try again to start the trial on Thursday.
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Outside court, Sabine Azemar said her hand stayed down when the judge asked her and the others in the jury pool if they were scared of serving. She said:
"They did have like plexiglass on the tables or desks where the lawyers were sitting."
Amber Carvaly in Highland Park got one, and obtained a postponement.
"I was pretty desperate to delay that to a time where I didn't think that I was going to get sick and die for going in to serve the community," Carvaly said.
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