The resumption of jury trials in Massachusetts will be pushed back another two weeks as the state’s trial court system prepares to take the next step in its response to the COVID-19 pandemic, officials announced Friday.
Under an order the Supreme Judicial Court issued in September, the first phase of restarting jury trials was set to begin on Oct. 23, but Trial Court Chief Justice Paula Carey said the target is now Nov. 9.
Any jurors who were summoned for the weeks of Oct. 26 and Nov. 2 will have their summons canceled, and any trials that had been scheduled to start will be rescheduled until after Nov. 9.
“We continue to review building systems to minimize any risk to jurors, court users and court staff,” Carey said in a press release. “We are following (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) guidance in terms of occupancy levels and want to take a few more weeks to prepare. This is a complicated process, given the coordination required.”
In the first phase, juries will be limited to six people and each court location will hold no more than one trial at a time. The second phase is currently scheduled to start in February, but that date could change based on public health conditions.
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