Far and Binding: How Austin, San Antonio Courts Are Gearing for Fully Remote Jury Trials
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Courts in Austin and San Antonio will test fully virtual jury trials this month, becoming perhaps the first in the world to use Zoom for a jury trial because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
It will be closely followed Aug. 19 by a weeklong civil jury trial over Zoom in 57th Civil District Judge Antonia “Toni” Arteaga’s courtroom in San Antonio.
Arteaga said she would love to have in-person jury trials but had to recognize where the community is at in terms of the coronavirus outbreak.
“I personally did not want to mandate that someone show up for jury duty when today mandating someone to appear in public place with 11 other people could have very dire repercussions. We don’t want to do that. At the same time, our job is to keep the wheels of justice turning,” Arteaga said.
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