A common courtroom question from attorney to judge — “Your Honor, may I approach the witness?” — went unasked Wednesday.
The witness in this case was sitting alone in the jury box behind a plexiglass shield, one of the precautions taken during the Roanoke Valley’s first jury trial since the coronavirus pandemic struck early this year.
Twelve masked jurors watched from the gallery of Courtroom No. 4 in Roanoke County Circuit Court, where they had been instructed to sit 6 feet apart from one another to abide by social distancing requirements.
Although it was a step in the direction of normal, much remained abnormal as the trial began for Austin Rickie Casey, a 34-year-old Vinton man who contested a felony charge that he assaulted a sheriff’s deputy last year while an inmate at the local jail.
“While we’re here to have a fair trial for both parties, we’re also here to do it safely,” Judge Charlie Dorsey told a panel of potential jurors who completed health questionnaires and had their temperatures checked before entering the courtroom.
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Since mid-March, concerns about the health and safety of the general public have overridden the fundamental right to a trial by jury. Such gatherings were barred until August, when the Virginia Supreme Court allowed them to resume, once it had approved individual plans drawn up by local judges to keep their courtrooms as virus-free as possible.
Non-jury proceedings, such as guilty pleas and bench trials, had resumed earlier with some restrictions, such as defendants appearing by video in some cases. On Thursday, the state Supreme Court announced that the ongoing state of judicial emergency will be extended for the 13th time since March, at least until Jan. 3.
A jury plan for the 23rd Judicial Circuit, which includes Roanoke County and the cities of Roanoke and Salem, was approved Oct. 16.
Casey’s case was the first criminal trial to be heard by a county jury since last December. The last civil jury trial wrapped up March 12, the same day Gov. Ralph Northam declared a judicial state of emergency.
Since then, more than 50 cases have sat waiting for a jury in the 23rd Circuit. The backlog is expected to lead to a surge of jury trials in the coming months.
Under circuit’s plan, the largest courtroom in Roanoke County, with a maximum capacity of 170, was limited to no more than 33 people in its gallery.
That required a change from the start of Casey’s trial with jury selection, which normally entails bringing in a pool of about 40 people into the courtroom. Potential jurors were separated into two panels of 20, with the first told to arrive at 9 a.m. and the second at 10:30 a.m.
Casey was asked to remove his mask just once, when Dorsey queried the pool members if anyone knew or recognized him.
Once the jury was selected and the trial began, attorneys kept their distance from witnesses and other parties. Exhibits such as documents and photographs were pre-labeled and copied, so they would not have to be passed hand to hand through the jury box as they usually are.
During recesses, a cleaning crew was called in to sanitize benches, tables and other parts of the courtroom that were frequently touched.
And when the jury began its deliberations, it did so in an adjacent courtroom rather than retiring to what would have been a crowded jury room.
By then, jurors had heard the testimony of Capt. Kermit Moore with the Roanoke County Sheriff’s Office, who said that Casey arrived at the Roanoke County-Salem Jail the morning of Sept. 23, 2019, in a state of agitation after being denied bond on a misdemeanor assault charge.
When he tried to deliver a blanket to Casey, Moore testified, the large and “incredibly strong” man pushed his way out of a holding cell and shoved him into a wall. Both men fell to the ground, and several other deputies joined in a struggle to handcuff Casey.
Moore was bitten in the chest during the tussle, he testified, after which he struck Casey several times in the head. Other deputies then deployed a Taser twice before the inmate was eventually brought under control, the jury was told.
Testifying from his seat at the defense table, Casey denied biting Moore and said it was the deputies who were at fault for using excessive force.
“He hit me like four times. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom,” the defendant said of Moore. “Then they electrocuted me again.”
Casey admitted that he was upset at the time after deputies refused his request to use a telephone. “Law enforcement has been bullying me for so long,” he testified. “I felt like I couldn’t take it anymore.”
Jurors began deliberations at 4 p.m., and it soon became clear they were divided. After the foreman told Dorsey that they were split, the judge instructed them to continue their efforts to reach a verdict.
But both sides stuck to their positions, and Dorsey declared a mistrial by a hung jury after about three hours. Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Ashley Sweet said Casey will be tried a second time.
Sweet and defense attorney Dirk Padgett agreed that the trial moved smoothly, despite the COVID-19 precautions. It was the second such case for Padgett, who last month represented a man who was acquitted in Alleghany County of a charge of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon.
“This is a good case to start with, to try to work out the kinks,” he said of a trial that involved only a few witnesses, exhibits and spectators.
As she began her closing argument Wednesday afternoon, Sweet took the usual step of thanking the jury for their service. It had been a long day, she said, that was made even longer “when you have to keep your mask on all day.”
Staff writer Neil Harvey contributed information to this report.