The majority of courts in Minnesota transitioned to video conferencing and remote hearings in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and some of those remote processes will become permanent fixtures in the court system going forward.
The COVID-19 pandemic required us to look at the potential issues associated with large in-person gatherings, and as the court shifted to a remote system during the pandemic, they found that some processes actually worked more efficiently when they could be conducted online instead of forcing everyone to gather in the same location. Some of these shifts will now become the standard when they are adopted on June 6.
Court Changes Coming
Most of the big changes are tied to other types of non-criminal law, but that doesn’t mean criminal law may not notice a shift to a remote system. The new plan will allow a number of non-criminal cases, like family law, eviction and civil court cases to be handled remotely. Criminal cases will be allowed to go remote, but that choice will be left to the discretion of the state’s 10 judicial districts.
Justice Lorie Gildea said the decision to shift certain court matters to remote hearings was made based on feedback from individuals who navigated the system during the pandemic. Gildea said remote hearings made it easier for people to show up to court on time, to avoid things like extra travel, taking more time off of work or finding childcare so that they could attend court. But Gildea noted that remote hearings can also help to clear cases faster, as criminal case backlog has increased 31 percent since the pandemic began.
“The idea is is we want to tackle this backlog, We want the local courts to figure out what is best for them,” said Justice Gildea. “Justice delayed is justice denied.”
Currently, there are 46,598 active pending gross misdemeanor and felony criminal cases in Minnesota state courts, up from 35,681 back on March 19, 2020.
While some are celebrating the more streamlined approach, others are a bit skeptical about how it will be implemented and why it wasn’t applied to criminal courts. Some defense lawyers believe if defendants are continued to be required to show up to court for all their hearings that they will be more likely to agree to a plea deal, something they don’t necessarily want their clients accepting because of outside pressure. Others believe that there is a human element that is lost when a person’s freedom hangs in the balance and the judge can’t even look them directly in the eye because they aren’t in the same room.
Justice Gildea said they courts will monitor the success of the new measures and continue to look for ways to improve the remote proceedings going forward.
“We are going to continue to get feedback on this process. Judges always have the discretion to go a different way,” said Gildea. “One of the beauties of courtroom work is there is almost always two sides to the story.”
We’ll continue to monitor how Hennepin County and other county courts will handle their criminal case backlog, and as always we remain committed to providing you with the highest level of care, whether that’s remote or in person. For more information or for help with your criminal case, give our team a call at (952) 224-2277.
