Non-emergency Florida court hearings suspended until June due to COVID-19

Chief Justice Canady today extended the suspension of non-essential court proceedings through the close of business on May 29 by administrative order AOSC20-23. As Florida deals with the public health emergency created by COVID-19, all civil and criminal trials, along with grand jury proceedings, are canceled. The only criminal court proceedings still happening are those deemed critical, such as first appearance and bond hearings.

Each local jurisdiction has been given the power to work within these constraints to ensure that the rights of criminal defendants are preserved, as long as public safety remains a priority. For example, Hillsborough County has shifted to video. Technical felony violations of probation (Judge Nazaretian) are being held on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 9:00-10:50. On Tuesday and Thursday, misdemeanor video arraignments (Judge Catlin) are scheduled from 9:00-10:00, while Judge Samantha Ward is taking negotiated changes of plea for incarcerated defendants from 10:00-11:00. Bond motions for incarcerated defendants where formal charges have not been filed yet are occurring each weekday from 11:00-12:00, while first appearances have been shifted to 1:00-3:00. On the weekends, the rotating duty judge will handle first appearances from 11:00-1:00.

Each individual judge is creating a framework for bond hearings that works best for the courthouse stakeholders (prosecution, defense, Clerk of the Court, Sheriff’s Office) in their division. Although hearing time will be limited, there will be a way to get into court (at least remotely). The more information an attorney can cohesively present to the Court, the better the chance for release from custody.

Today’s order brings clarity to the reality that court as we know it will not return before the summer, if then. My first contested hearing (on a domestic violence injunction petition) by Zoom was on Thursday. Although my client and I ended up winning the hearing, you can see the potential for abuse if a judge is not patient or technologically savvy enough to adapt to the new normal.