![]() “We are very pleased to note the significant increase in tenants’ sales at the Esplanade. Years later, while presiding over the first appearance courtroom, Marx said he called in the next person who had been arrested to set his bond, looked over and recognized the man: It was the doctor, arrested and accused of a crime.Palm Beach’s booming real estate market and an influx of new residents and visitors have boosted business at its retail venues from Worth Avenue to County Road and The Royal Poinciana Plaza, giving merchants a strong season that has not let up yet. He told them about one instance where a man "threw a fit" during jury selection because he claimed his job as a doctor was more important than participating. In his speech before he let jurors go Tuesday morning, Judge Joseph Marx spoke about the importance of serving, and how glad he was they showed up and were willing to serve, even if they were being sent home. Instead they're choosing cases that are typically shorter and more straightforward than homicide cases and other violent crimes. Marx said these trials aren't necessarily meant to tackle the backlog. She said the number, just below 24%, was still lower than the 28% that other chief judges across the state were reporting.īefore the pandemic, she said, the Palm Beach County courthouse had about 30% to 33% of people show up for jury service. ![]() Marx said that of the 700 juror summons sent about by the Palm Beach County clerk for this week, 167 people showed up Tuesday morning for jury duty. More: One dead in shooting on Seventh Street in West Palm Beach ShotSpotter system alerted police "I was impressed by the number of jurors who did show up." Some can't afford child care for kids attending school online. Others just got new jobs after being laid off because of the pandemic and can't take time off. Many are anxious about being in the courthouse. She previously said she was concerned about what juries may look like given the circumstances surrounding the virus. ![]() She added that she was happy with how everything was handled, as well as the diversity of the jury panel. Haughwout said she was appreciative they could start trials. Then, when Caracuzzo asked if they could select a jury and schedule the case for the following day, she found out there weren't any more jurors to choose from. Prosecutors told her they wouldn't have witnesses ready to start trial. But another man who was set for a plea said he wanted a trial instead. In Circuit Judge Cheryl Caracuzzo's courtroom Tuesday morning, her original cases set for trial pleaded out. "I guess the more things change, they more they stay same." "I was hopeful we could be more certain, based on all the time and effort going into this," she said. She said that before the virus shut everything down, it was common to have 15 trials ready to go on a Friday, only to have each get a new date or be resolved on Monday. But only three ended up ready to have jurors selected. Marx, the chief judge, said the judges identified 18 cases they thought would be ready to move forward. More: Authorities: One FWC employee dead, two others hurt in boating incident just south of PBIA "It's been seven months," Haughwout said. "It’s going to take a while to figure it out." But she said she was otherwise pleased with how things ran. In the future, she said, she hopes more cases will be ready for trial so they can make their way through those waiting for their day in court. She said that because it was such a small pool of cases, there was little wiggle room if the cases fell through. Public Defender Carey Haughwout, who represented the defendant in the domestic case, said she wasn't surprised with how the cases went, given how much can change at the last minute. She said that even though they didn't have any trials, everything else "ran like a well-oiled machine" and the court will be ready in the coming weeks when more jurors are summoned. More: PBSO: Driver drunk, had drugs in system when SUV fatally hit bicyclist near Lake Worth Beach "(But) I think there’s a learning experience for all of us." "I'm disappointed that after nearly eight months (without) trials that we weren’t able to get a trial to go this time," she said. One involving domestic battery, one involving drugs, and one involving fleeing and eluding were resolved either with plea deals or the charges being dropped. Three cases were set to begin Tuesday in what would have been the first criminal jury trials to take place since March, when courthouses across the country shut down in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.īut in the hours before jurors were brought upstairs to the courtroom, Chief Judge Krista Marx said, the cases were resolved.
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