Lawyer in circuit court tests positive for the virus

A lawyer who was in the Macomb County courthouse house Monday has tested positive for COVID-19, drawing criticism of court officials by other attorneys who were in the courtroom.

Three lawyers told The Macomb Daily they were notified Wednesday by the county that an attorney who was in the third-floor courtroom of Judge Edward Servitto courthouse Monday has tested positive for COVID-19.

One of the attorneys, Bill Barnwell, launched a petition drive this week to urge Macomb County Circuit Court officials to close the courthouse amid the coronavirus pandemic. He and other attorneys say Macomb officials were slow to react.

“I’m livid. I’m extremely angry,” said Barnwell, 39. “This is what they get for messing around. Chief Judge Biernat, Judge Servitto, I

hope they are really happy with themselves.

“Hopefully nobody else was exposed. If they have been, it’s because they allowed it to happen.”

The two other attorneys also are not happy with the situation.

“I’m very upset,” the attorney said. “I feel the leaders in our county didn’t act with concern for their employees, and put their employees’ lives at-risk.”

The two additional lawyers who wished to remain anonymous told The Macomb Daily they are quarantining themselves for 14 days.

Barnwell Jr. told The Macomb Daily that he was contacted by a fellow lawyer around 4:30 p.m. Wednesday and informed about the unidentified criminal defense lawyer testing positive.

On Monday, Barnwell was in circuit court for three hearings, including for two elderly people who were just recently released from the hospital. In Servitto’s courtroom, Barnwell represented a defendant in a criminal case who is not in custody, and the judge refused to adjourn the trial scheduled in early April to a later date.

Barnwell on Sunday afternoon started a petition drive on Change.org urging the closure of all courts except in non-emergency matters, in light of the state of emergency for Michigan declared by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and the Centers for Disease Control’s recommendation – at that time – that people not gather in groups of 50 or more people. Within three hours, the petition had more than 300 signatures. By 8 a.m. Monday, it garnered signed support from 760 attorneys.

Circuit Court officials did not close the court.

Macomb County officials said in a news release Wednesday night it does not appear that there was any prolonged exposure to any other employees, as explained in Centers of Disease Control guidelines.

The county advised employees who were exposed to enter the self-quarantine and is allowing employees to take up to two weeks paid time off for COVID-19-related issues.

“The county places a top priority on our employees and our ability to provide services to the community,” officials said in the release.

“As this situation continues to evolve, we fully anticipate there will be more incidents in the workplace. We will continue to perform risk assessments to determine appropriate actions going forward,” County Executive Mark Hackel said.

One of the unnamed attorneys who was exposed is now “very concerned” about the exposure because he or she has had contact with his or her own elderly parents, spouse and children since Monday.

That lawyer is upset that county and court officials failed to shut down most of the court’s operations. “They delayed and allowed people to come and go,” the attorney said.

The individual had contact for about 15 seconds with the criminal defense lawyer who has tested positive and said the courtroom had many civil cases Monday morning and a handful of criminal cases.

The attorney went to a Beaumont Hospital to get tested for COVID-19 but was turned away after not showing the requisite symptoms.

The attorney said the county has tried to contact every known person in the courtroom that morning.

A third attorney exposed to the infected attorney echoed the other attorneys’ complaints, pointing out that Wayne County closed its circuit court to most cases last Friday.

The third attorney said the infected attorney’s client wasn’t in custody so there was no need for a hearing.

The third attorney said the court also erred by allowing two supporters of a criminal defendant to speak at the defendant’s sentencing. The attorney said the judge should have tried to limit the number of people in the courtroom.

Barnwell said he is concerned about the safety of the public, as well as his wife, Warren City Treasurer Lorie Barnwell, their 7-year-old son, and Barnwell’s 73-year-old father, former Warren Councilman William Barnwell, whom he said is suffering from severe kidney disease.

Barnwell said Servitto’s courtroom was packed Monday morning. He doesn’t know whether the

attorney who has been diagnosed as positive for COVID-19 was in the courtroom at the same time as him. Mondays are “motion day,” where numerous motions are handled but no jury trials are conducted.

Barnwell said some judges seem more concerned about a backload of cases that would occur if cases were postponed. Shortly after learning Wednesday of the diagnosis of a fellow legal eagle, Barnwell said he unsuccessfully tried to reach Servitto, a former Warren city attorney whom he has known for many years.

“I left a message for Judge Servitto thanking him for putting me, my family and the public at risk,” Barnwell told a reporter Wednesday afternoon.

Responding to Barnwell’s comments in an earlier version of this report published earlier in the day at MacombDaily.com, Servitto said Wednesday night that some attorneys phoned Monday morning and in the days leading up to it, to request adjournments on the hearings for their respective motions. Those were approved, said Servitto, who also took issue with Barnwell’s criticism.

“He was only there because he chose to be there for his motion,” the judge said. “All he had to do was call and say I want to adjourn it and it would have been adjourned, as many did.”

Servitto said there were about 25 people in his courtroom Monday morning and all matters on his morning docket were handled by approximately 10:30 a.m. He added he has hundreds of open cases, with many scheduled to go to trial in future in the coming months – some as late as August. He doesn’t know how his staff will be able to schedule them all, and said he suggested to Barnwell that a pretrial conference by held by phone in the week leading up this clients trial to discuss scheduling at that time.

He said he will now selfquarantine for 14 days and at his request, his staff has agreed to do so, too.

“I’ve got the same concerns the whole world does,” the judge added.

On Tuesday, circuit court officials issued a press release that said all criminal jury trials would be adjourned until at least April 3 due to efforts to control the

spread of COVID-19.

The court issued new, stricter rules Tuesday after initially imposing rules that would allow in-custody criminal trials to take place. The new rules adjourn nearly every case to take place at the courthouse except in-custody sentencings and various types of emergency or necessary hearings in juvenile and probate courts. All civil and business court cases must be conducted remotely.

For cases that take place, only the parties or someone directly involved in the case are allowed to attend.

Last week, the Michigan Supreme Court recommended that jury trials be rescheduled but gave all courts discretion to set their own limits on operations during the state of emergency.

In the 37th District Court, which includes Warren and Center Line, Chief Judge John Chmura let the other three jurists of Macomb County’s busiest district court decide how each wanted to proceed. Judges Suzanne Faunce postponed jury trials, which she was presiding over this week, and she and Judge Matthew Sabaugh adjourned all matters on their dockets that didn’t involve jailed criminal defendants awaiting preliminary hearings.

Chmura and Judge Michael Chupa didn’t immediately delay cases to a later date. Chmura, however, said he wants to move cases along if requested to do so, but will grant all requests for adjournments.

Some traffic scofflaws continue to pay parking tickets this week in Warren. Court officers did not allow individuals who were not parties to cases to proceed into the courthouse.

Kristine Barnes, a Warren court employee who is staying home because of health issues that she said would make her more vulnerable to the coronavirus, believes the court should be closed to the public.

“Some people are very worried” about the courthouse remaining open, she said.

On Wednesday night, Chmura said the court will be shutting down at least partially.

“We just don’t have enough work to justify staying open,” said the chief judge, adding he will release more details Thursday.