Centre County jury selection, trials set to resume with some changes due to COVID-19
Centre County’s crawl back to full operations is scheduled to inch forward in late August when the Centre County Courthouse resumes jury selection and trials.
Several efforts to mitigate the potential spread of the new coronavirus are expected, including the shift of jury selection from the courthouse to the Presidents Hall at the Penn Stater Hotel and Conference Center.
The space is set to be partitioned, with about 65 potential jurors in each 5,000-square-foot room. Masks will be mandatory, the county wrote Monday in a press release.
No tax dollars will be spent to use the facility, county Commissioner Michael Pipe said in a statement.
“This is a great example of the type of partnerships and collaborations that are happening throughout our Centre County community in the face of the pandemic,” Pipe said. “The commissioners are dedicated to finding innovative ways to keep the criminal justice system moving forward during COVID-19.”
All trials, which were suspended in March, are scheduled to be conducted in the courthouse’s largest courtroom. Jurors will be seated throughout the courtroom, rather than the compact jury box.
Deliberations, traditionally carried out in a separate room, are set to take place in the courtroom.
“We are committed to resuming the jury selection and trial process as safely as possible, while conforming to all legal requirements, including those outlined in the Pennsylvania and U.S. constitutions,” county President Judge Pamela Ruest said in a statement.