MACON, Ga. — As COVID-19 cases continue to rise, jury trials in Bibb County will now be put on hold for the month of September.
Chief Judge Howard Simms signed the judicial emergency order Tuesday afternoon. It goes into effect immediately.
"We had witnesses and jurors testing positive. We don’t have a facility right now where we can spread it out enough," said Simms, talking about the reason he decided to delay trials in August.
Then, there was never a formal order signed. He says in that time they watched COVID numbers hoping to see if they started to decline.
"They have not gotten better," said Simms.
As more demands for trials and other statutory obligations roll in, Simms says he had no other choice but to halt jury trials for the next 30 days -- tacking onto the already 14-month backlog of jury trials.
"No backlogs help. Adding cases to an already large calendar is never a good thing, but you have to balance it against public health," said Simms.
With backlogged cases comes delayed justice. This is Simms' message to victims and their families, "To be as patient as you can possibly be because we’re going as fast as we can go and with taking into account trying to keep from putting people in harm’s way."
Sheriff David Davis says he anticipates that backlog will be reflected in the jail’s population.
"We would hope that maybe some of these cases will plead out," said Davis.
Right now Bibb County is holding 846 inmates. Their cap is 966. 93% of inmates are charged with a felony offense, and 84 of the suspects are charged with murder.
Macon DA Anita Reynolds Howard sent a statement to 13WMAZ. It says in part:
"We are ready when Chief Judge Simms allows us to move forward, as he is the only person with the power to make that decision. We have offered creative solutions to the courts throughout this pandemic to keep moving that have been considered but not acted upon."
The decision to halt trials also comes as the Macon Judicial Circuit is dealing with another brewing problem -- not enough prosecutors.
As we reported last week, six assistant district attorneys turned in their resignation letters, and their official end date is later this month.
In a statement, Howard said her office will "still retain the most experienced, dedicated, and diverse prosecutorial team in Middle Georgia."
Simms says he’s spoken with Howard about the issue.
"She’s assured me that there won’t be any delays, so I’m going to hold them to that and hopefully there won’t," said Simms.
He says the challenge is filling those six vacancies without taking a hit on experience.