From the Honorable Paula Feroleto:
Supreme civil jury trials have commenced in Erie County and will soon be commencing throughout the 8th JD. While the document linked below is related to Erie county civil as to location for jury selection and the phone for the commissioner of jurors you should expect the general plan for trials in counties outside Erie to be very similar. Issues that arise will need to be addressed with either the commissioner of jurors, or once the jury is empaneled with the trial judge. Criminal jury trials will be allowed commencing in Term 12, and you should anticipate similar jury trial rules for criminal cases.
Space is limited. Courthouses are to be operating with no more than 50% of the courtrooms being used at one time. The space between jurors must be at least six feet at all times and that includes a room large enough for deliberations to provide for six feet of space. Different courthouses and courtrooms throughout the district are configured differently and you should absolutely not expect to see all jurors in a jury box, in fact in many areas they will be in the former “public” space. Counsel should anticipate being invited in to see the space and configurations before trial if you would like. This will be rolled out slowly in each county.
We have been fortunate with our Grand jury experience to date and hope to have a very smooth roll out of continuing trials throughout the district.
