Bexar County cancels trials amid surge of COVID cases

New jury trials have been canceled for the first two weeks of January in Bexar County as an omicron-fueled surge in COVID-19 increases cases and hospitalizations.

State District Judge Ron Rangel, who also is the administrative judge for the district courts, made the decision Friday after deliberation and consultation with medical experts.

“The (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) has listed Bexar County as severe; and in talking with the local health authority, we know there at least will be a two-week, quick spike,” he said. “Late January, things should be better.”

Rangel said no new juries would be impaneled and sent out emails to those already summoned. In a letter to jurors, he said people who have received a summons should disregard it and do not have to appear in the courthouse or by Zoom.

But Friday's decision affects only trials that haven't yet begun.

The first murder trial of 2022 is scheduled to begin Tuesday in the 437th Criminal District Court, with Judge Melisa Skinner presiding. The jury was chosen a few weeks ago, a process that's considered the beginning of a trial.

Because the jury is ready to go, it will be up to Skinner to decide whether to proceed or postpone, Rangel said.

Reached Friday, Skinner said that how the trial proceeds will dependon the health of all participants, including the jurors, attorneys and witnesses. As for safety precautions, she said, jurors are routinely given the option of socially distancing, along with other precautions that have already been in place for some time.

“It's a very new kind of justice system that we're dealing with,” Skinner said. “As long as we continue to have the virus and new variants, we're going to have to adjust as the virus keeps adjusting.”

Rangel has left it up to individual judges to decide safety protocols for their courtrooms, including whether they will conduct proceedings in person or remotely. He has suggested the courts do as much on Zoom as they can.

In the letter, Rangel encouraged anyone who is eligible for the coronavirus vaccine to obtain it if they haven't already done so.

Jury summonses also were postponed at the start of the pandemic, in March 2020, for a period of 14 months, and again from Aug. 4 through Sept. 29, when coronavirus cases spiked during the summer.