County hosts first jury trial since pandemic hit

Thirteen jurors sat at intervals in the audience gallery. Witnesses in the jury box. A courtroom of people wearing masks, gloves or both and multiple containers of cleaning supplies. A jury trial in the time of COVID-19 isn’t the familiar sight it once was.

Last week marked the first jury trial in this county since the pandemic hit, and it had to be done by the book. The Wyoming Supreme Court has issued safety guidelines, but local courts are expected to adopt an operating plan that will be functional in each unique situation.

“It had to be approved to even start this process,” says Clerk of District Court Tina Wood. All three District Court judges and the Circuit Court judge needed to be on board, as did County Health Officer James Larsen, and it then had to be authorized by the Wyoming Supreme Court.

“This operating plan is very similar to the one that they did out of Campbell County and they had two trials prior to ours, so we knew that it was a working plan,” Wood says.

A month before the trial, potential jurors were sent their usual packets – but for the first time with the inclusion of a supplemental questionnaire.

“That had some questions on it regarding if they had any health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, and if they’ve been anywhere where they could have possibly gotten exposed,” Wood says.

Jurors were not required to send the questionnaire back if they could answer every question with a “no”. However, if their answer to any question was “yes”, the court needed to know.

“Those trickled in over the month. Then we had [three] meetings with the judge and the two attorneys and myself to go over them,” Wood says. The number of meetings rose to three because juror responses continued to arrive up until two days before the trial.

“Even that morning, I had a juror call in and say she was sick,” Wood says.

Decisions were made during those meetings as to whether certain jury members should be excused. For this particular trial, a “yes” on the questionnaire virtually guaranteed that outcome.

The sick juror was also told not to come to the courthouse and a juror who turned up with congestion and a cough, but had reason to believe she was only suffering from a cold, was excused by the judge and sent home to be on the safe side.

Then came jury selection itself. “In the courtroom, we can only fit so many to social distance, so we brought the jury in in ‘flights’,” Wood says.

The first 18 were brought in as the day began and another 18 were scheduled a little later. A third flight was set for early afternoon if a pool of 31 had not been seated, but ultimately was not needed.

Then, “The attorneys and the judge did their preemptory challenges and got the 13,” Wood says, meaning the 12 official members of the jury and one alternate, who is not made aware of their status until the end of the trial and whose verdict is only necessary if another jury member must be excused.

“Then we called all of them and told them they either needed to be back by 3 p.m. or that they were released,” Wood says.

To maintain social distancing, the 13 jurors were not seated in the jury box, but were instead asked to sit six feet apart in the public gallery. But before they could take their seats, they needed to be screened.

“We have a checklist of any symptoms, they had to have their temperature taken and, according to our plan, they had to wear masks once they entered the courthouse,” Wood says.

“The only time they had to wear them was when they were moving within the courthouse, so once they got up to the courtroom they were able to take their masks off.”

Masks, of course, have been a thorny issue throughout the pandemic, so not everyone was pleased to be asked to wear one.

“We had one juror who refused to wear it. She was held in contempt,” Wood says.

Wearing a mask in the courtroom is an order from the Wyoming Supreme Court, she explains, which means it isn’t optional. Fortunately, the juror opted to change her mind.

“She complied, so therefore she didn’t have to go to jail,” Wood says.

The jury was not alone in being required to wear a mask while moving about. Everyone involved, from counsel to clerks to the defendant, were expected to do the same – Judge Michael Deegan opted to wear his throughout the trial, Wood says. For the sake of clarity, masks were not required while a witness took the stand or counsel presented statements.

With the jury seated where the audience would be, there wasn’t much room left for the public. A single row was left at the back of the courtroom, along which audience members were expected to seat themselves at an appropriate distance from one another. Audience members were also asked to submit to screening before entering the courtroom and wear masks while moving around.

In this case, the lack of space did not prove to be a problem. For a more high-profile trial, Wood says, audience members may be asked to rotate in and out of the courtroom in 30-minute segments; the possibility also exists that proceedings could be live streamed on a screen in the courthouse basement.

Sanitization was another important part of the process, says Wood. Jurors were asked to sanitize each time they entered or left the courtroom and while being checked in; bailiffs wore gloves; the podium was cleaned each time a new person stepped up to it; the witness chair was sanitized for each new witness and disposable microphone covers were used.

The court reporter started out in the jury room so as to be social distanced but, due to connectivity issues, moved back into the courtroom on the second day.

The musical chairs continued with the witnesses, who were seated in the jury box to give their testimony. This was partly because of the lack of space between the witness box and Judge Deegan’s seat and partly to make it easier for the jury to hear and see them from the gallery.

All these extra steps required extra hands, and Wood says she is grateful for all the help she was given. From Crook County Sheriff’s Office assisting with the screening to the County Clerk’s Office helping to distribute masks, and Wood’s own staff stepping up, Wood says it was very much a community effort.

“It’s a lot of extra work,” Wood says, estimating that, for her alone, it took a full day of additional tasks to make sure everything was prepared ahead of the trial.

“This has definitely been a challenge. I’ve been through a lot of challenges in my time here, but this was definitely one of the larger ones,” she says. “But it was very successful, it ran smoothly and the judge was able to have his trial. All in all, things went very, very well.”

Jury trials in the COVID-19 era may become slightly easier soon. In September, thanks to funding from the CARES Act, courtrooms across the state will see upgrades to their technology. This is expected to include videoconferencing facilities and screens to project back to the audience and the jury box.

Several more District Court trials, both criminal and civil, are currently scheduled for October. The cycle begins again this week as the next batch of jury packets are sent out, each one containing its unprecedented questionnaire.

Verdict

The trial concerned the case of Phillip Cotney, who allegedly pulled a knife on a Sundance police officer outside a local bar in July, 2019. According to court reports, Cotney became angry when approached by the officer and was held at gunpoint until he could be successfully apprehended with the assistance of a Sheriff’s Office deputy.

The jury found Cotney guilty on a felony count of aggravated assault and battery and a misdemeanor charge of interference with a peace officer.