Court proceedings to restart in Chester County
On Monday, judges across Chester County will begin holding preliminary hearings for non-incarcerated criminal defendants, proceedings that had been put off when Chester County President Judge John Hall announced limitations on court activity in March and April because of the coronavirus outbreak in Pennsylvania.
Magisterial District Judge John Bailey of West Whiteland, who will be the first to hear such cases in District Court, said he had scheduled about 18 hearings for those charged with misdemeanors, part of a rotating schedule for the county’s judges. The hearings will include some in-person appearances, plus some remote contacts through teleconferencing.
“I going to give it a try,” said Bailey of the unique set-up. “I don’t know how well it is going to work, but it’s my goal to try to get back to normal as much as we can. I just want to get back to work.”
According to Patricia Norwood-Foden, the county Court Administrator, the resumption of such proceedings next month was part of an order Hall issued in April. Common Pleas Court judges will be helping with the caseload by hearing felony cases and drunk driving charges, sitting in the Justice Center Tuesdays and Thursdays through the month of May.
The magisterial district judges will conduct proceedings in their offices, she said.
“Each case will be different regarding what parties remote into the hearing. The (District Attorneys and Public Defenders) assigned to the hearings will most likely ‘remote in’ from the Justice Center. Private counsel, defendants, witness and affiants will be able to remote into the proceeding or appear in the court before the magisterial district judge.
“The number of cases heard each day and at each court will be different,” Norwood-Foden said. The number is determined by the caseload of the individual court.
A spokeswoman for the District Attorney’s Office, Chief of Staff Andrea Cardamone, said that her office was ready to begin holding the preliminary hearings both at the Justice Canter and remotely in District Courts.
“We have been conducting preliminary hearings for incarcerated defendants for the past several weeks,” Cardamone said. “These hearings have served as pretty effective trial runs. I anticipate that there will be some confusion and technology issues when we get started, but I am also confident we will figure out a way to make it work.”
She said witnesses or victims would have the option of connecting to the proceedings remotely, or by going to the court where the case was being heard.
Depending upon which courts are scheduled each day, we could have over 100 hearings scheduled on any given day. “We anticipate that many will be resolved without a hearing,” she said.
Public Defender Nathan Schenker agreed that things would work without significant obstacles, attorneys and judges having to begin holding remote hearings over the past several weeks.
“While there is a lot of technology involved, based on the successful preliminary hearings that have been held for the incarcer
ated defendants, I don’t anticipate any major obstacles in that regard,” he said Tuesday. “The logistics for non-incarcerated defendants will be more complicated but with the continued cooperation of the courts and departments involved I think we can hold preliminary hearings consistent with the standards that existed before the pandemic.”
But one private criminal defense attorney, who asked to remain anonymous, said he would not be comfortable with attending hearings at any court until the state’s emergency provision for the COVID-19 outbreak were lifted.
“I’m not comfortable physically entering any courthouse for a hearing which does not implicate the potential release of a client from custody as long as Gov. (Tom) Wolf’s emergency order remains in place,” the attorney said in an email. “This arises out of my concern not just for myself, but all others involved. I trust that we won’t be required to attend, for instance, preliminary hearings for non-incarcerated clients.
“If all parties involved in a hearing which does not address an incarcerated defendant choose to attend, that’s their prerogative. On the other hand, if anyone is not comfortable, I would hope that those matters are continued, or handled remotely, by agreement of the parties,” the attorney said.