MIDLAND, Texas — COVID-19 has delayed plenty of trials since 2020. Now, an outbreak that occurred during jury selection for the Heidelberg case in the Midland County Court has had a big impact — suspending all jury trials until the end of November.
"It was the most jurors that had ever been brought in for any case in the history of Midland County," said Jeff Robnett, Midland County administrative judge.
There won't be people at the Midland County Courthouse for jury trials until at least the end of November.
"Hundreds of people were exposed, there's no doubt about that," said Robnett. "That's why Judge Gillis pulled back and why we've pulled back on the other dockets."
Potential jurors were brought in to the Midland County Courthouse for jury selection in the Heidelberg case, and days later, tested positive for COVID-19.
"It involved jurors, people who were lawyers and administrative staff," said Robnett.
The outbreak caused the Judge to move other trials to a later date.
"We don't want to have trials if they're not safe to have, that's why we pulled back again on that docket and that's why Judge Gillis has moved his trial with the same jurors to a different date," said Robnett.
And even though trials are delayed, the judge says it won't cause much backup.
"It slows it down, but Midland's OK, Midland was one of the only counties in the state that worked hard to get back to as regular life as we could," said Robnett.
Trials are expected to resume on Nov. 29, with the Heidelberg trial resuming on Nov. 30.