Norfolk courts latest in Virginia OK’d for jury trials

NORFOLK, Va. — One of Virginia’s largest courts will restart jury trials next week, six months after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the Tidewater-area judges to halt them.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that Norfolk Circuit Court is one of four courts statewide that the Virginia Supreme Court has allowed to conduct jury trials again.

The Supreme Court banned all lower courts from conducting jury trials starting in May, but Norfolk already had postponed them in mid-March.

Potential jurors will be kept in small groups and have to wear face masks.

They won’t sit in jury boxes and will decide verdicts in an empty courtroom.

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