Jury trials resume in Queens, as court system attempts return to normalcy
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The long isLand city supreme court bUilding. File photo by clarissa sosin
By David Brand
A pair of jury trials will get underway in Queens this week, as the New York court system attempts to resume more normal proceedings for the first time in 2021.
Jury selection began Monday in a Civil Supreme Court case at the Long Island City courthouse, Queens County Clerk Audrey Pheffer said. Jury selection will begin in a weapons-related criminal trial presided at by Justice John Zoll Wednesday, court officials say.
The Criminal Supreme Court building in Kew Gardens has capacity for one jury selection and two trials at a time inside the large ceremonial courtroom, officials added. The courtroom has been outfitted in plexiglass barriers and audio-visual equipment, and jurors are spaced far apart.
Pheffer said 57 of 100 people summoned for jury duty in the civil trial showed up Monday. Another 500 people have been summoned for grand jury service, and 400 for the criminal trial, she said.
Jurors are not questioned about whether they have received the COVID-19 vaccine. “That’s their business,” Pheffer said.
“The only thing they have to have is a mask on,” she added. “And we have extra.”
Trials resumed across the state Monday, with 26 scheduled to take place in New York City: seven criminal and 19 civil. Chief Judge Janet DiFiore said the declining rate of COVID-19 has allowed the court system to proceed with trials for the first time since a brief window in November, when Queens held one criminal and two civil trials. Those were the only trials to take place in Queens since coronavirus restrictions took effect last March.
“Now with the improved COVID metrics, and the continuing distribution of the vaccine, we are able to safely begin the gradual expansion of in-person operations, including jury trials, in our courts,” DiFiore said during a weekly address Monday.
Elsewhere in the state, nine criminal and nine civil trials are scheduled to begin.
Despite the rosy picture of declining COVID-19 rates and the increase in vaccine distribution, the coronavirus remains a major problem across New York City, fueling concerns about the jury restart.
At least 25 zip codes in New York City recorded seven-day positivity rates above 10 percent Monday. Queens accounts for three of the four highest rates in New York City, with Richmond Hill, South Ozone Park and Flushing all around 14 percent, according to city Health Department data.
In a letter to DiFiore and Gov. Cuomo earlier this month, Queens County Bar Association President Clifford Welden urged court leaders to keep trials on hold until more New Yorkers are vaccinated and the rates drop further.
“We have been working virtually for a year, for the health of our community, I ask that you wait a short while longer until the majority of our population is vaccinated against this dangerous virus that has already killed so many,” Welden said.
But many attorneys, particularly personal injury lawyers, say the trial restart is necessary for compelling defendants to negotiate settlements.
Pheffer, the county clerk, cited that reality when describing a third jury trial that was scheduled to begin this week. The parties worked out an agreement on the eve of jury selection, she said.
“As soon as you say to someone that you’re having a trial, they end up settling,” she said.
