Attorneys working to ‘triage cases’ in Manatee during COVID-19 crisis
Most court proceedings are being postponed statewide as attorneys and judges in Manatee County are working to resolve as many criminal cases as possible to reduce the jail population while minimizing the number people working in or visiting the courthouse during the COVID-19 crisis.
On Wednesday, Chief Judge Kimberly C. Bonner issued an administrative order for court procedures in the 12th Judicial Circuit, following the Florida Supreme Court administrative order Tuesday calling for all county and circuit courts to suspend all non-essential court proceedings. The order takes affect at 5 p.m.
Only mandatory or emergency proceedings will be held including the following:
- First appearance hearings.
- Juvenile shelter dependency hearings.
- Termination of Parental Rights advisory hearings.
- Hearings on petitions for Judicial Wavier of Notice.
- Juvenile delinquency detention hearings.
- Temporary domestic violence injunction hearings.
- Instanter hearings on child support.
- Ex Parte risk protection order hearings.
- Emergency temporary guardianship hearings.
- Hearings Do Not Resuscitate orders.
- Baker Act and Marchman Act hearings.
- Bond hearings.
Hearings on petitions for extraordinary writs as necessary to protect constitutional rights.
If or when they become necessary, judges will also be holding hearings on any violations of any quarantines, orders to limit travel, order to close public or private buildings and curfew orders.
A criminal judge may hold necessary hearings in which the custody status of a defendant currently in jail could change as a result of the hearing and as long as the hearing is held electronically without having the inmate present in court.
To accomplish that, the public defender’s office is working with the state attorney’s office and judges to try to resolve as many cases as possible, according to Public Defender Larry Eger.
“We are basically triaging these cases” Eger said.
Although the public defender’s office typically represents about 85 to 90 percent of defendants locally, according to Eger, public defenders are seeking to get appointed temporarily regardless if the person is later found not to qualify financially in order to ensure that everyone who has been arrested has representation during this emergency.
Public defenders are also being encouraged to communicate with all their clients by phone to limit direct physical contact, according to Eger. During first appearances and bond hearings for anyone considered vulnerable to COVID-19, public defenders are arguing that is a public health issue as part of their arguments for pre-trial release.
“At first appearance, one of our primary objectives is to gain the release of our clients,” Eger said. “About 50 percent or more of people in jail are there for pre-trial detention.”
Changes at the jail
The sheriff’s office is also working to keep those inmates in custody at the Manatee County jail safe from COVID-19 with enhanced inmate screenings and stopping outsiders from coming in.
The sheriff’s office is no longer allowing anyone besides inmates or staff to enter the jail. Video visitation has not been suspended, however, and will be a last resort, according to Sheriff Rick Wells. For now extra precautions are being taken at the facility so that inmates can continue to have that contact with loved ones that is so important to their mental well-being.
As of Monday, the Florida Department of Corrections has also stopped picking up inmates who have already been sentenced to prison.
Sheriff’s office deputies and staff as well as Naphcare medical staff at the jail have been following CDC-recommended guidelines. Last week, nurses at the jail began enhanced screenings of inmates during the intake process to identify anyone with any symptoms associated with COVID-19. That screening is now taking place in the sally port entrance before new inmates even enter the jail, according to Wells.
According to the sheriff’s office, anyone determined to potentially have the coronavirus will be tested and placed in an isolated, pressurized cell in the jail’s medical unit.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 5:00 AM.
