HomeMy WebLinkAboutPress Release Police Recordings Trial Postponed Due To COVID-19City of South Bend
Common Council
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South Bend, Indiana 46601
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NEWS RELEASE
Subject: Police Recordings Trial Postponed Due To COVID-19
Date: Friday, November 20, 2020
From: Council President, Karen L. White
Contact: Bob Palmer, Council Attorney: bpalmer@southbendin.gov
Police Recordings Trial Postponed Due To COVID-19
The Police Recordings trial scheduled to begin on December 10, 2020 has been
postponed due to COVID-19.
The St. Joseph Superior Court granted the intervening police officers’ motion to
continue the trial on November 16, 2020. The case, which will be tried with an
advisory jury, is now scheduled to begin on May 6, 2021 and to conclude no later
than May 14, 2021.
The Common Council’s attorney, Bob Palmer, expressed his disappointment with
the postponement, but noted that: “the court has scheduled this case to be heard by a
jury at the Common Council’s request. The attention this case has received in the
media will probably require that more than a hundred people will be called as
potential jurors. There is just no practical way to keep everyone safe from COVID-
19 during jury selection and the trial that would follow. This is an important case for
the people of this community, but because the delay will be short, it does not make
sense to possibly expose people to COVID-19 just before the holidays.”
The St. Joseph County Courts Action Plan Concerning COVID-19, updated on
November 13, 2020, noted that “despite trial courts following all recommended
protocols, recent jury trials around Indiana have shown that jurors cannot
necessarily be kept safe…” The update also stated that a number of scheduled jury
trials in the St. Joseph County courts “have not been able to proceed due to the
amount of jurors who were unable to appear due to COVID-19 related issues.”
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Karen L. White
President
Sharon L. McBride
Vice President
Sheila Niezgodski
Chairperson, Committee
of the Whole
Canneth Lee
First District
Henry Davis, Jr.
Second District
Sharon L. McBride
Third District
Troy Warner
Fourth District
Sheila Niezgodski
Sixth District
Karen L. White
At Large
Rachel Tomas Morgan
At Large
Lori K. Hamann
At Large