RICHMOND, Va. — Prosecutors and defense attorneys are pointing to a significant problem impeding the administration of justice in Richmond. Jury trials, which involve exhaustive preparation and oftentimes occur months or even years after the alleged crimes at the center of them, are being postponed at the last minute due to an issue out of both sides' control.
Attorneys say the jury office, which is managed by Richmond Sheriff Antionette Irving's Office, is not sending the list of potential jurors to counsel in a timely manner. By law, that list is supposed to be distributed at least five days before a trial.
This information, according to legal professionals, is critical for research and preparation purposes.
"Having a list five days in advance of trial, as mandated by the code... allows for legal counsel to investigate each potential juror in the venire pool, to identify bias, review personal interests, and to check for that potential juror’s prior knowledge of events that might prevent that juror from being objective," defense attorney Katherine Poindexter said in a statement.
Richmond Commonwealth's Attorney Colette McEachin said this issue has been "ongoing" over the past five years to the point where her office just expects, as the norm, for the list to be late.
"When that time is compressed and you only get it the day before trial or two days before trial, then that makes your trial preparation that much more difficult," McEachin said in an interview with CBS 6. “The jury system is the backbone of the criminal justice system, and if we can't rely on our processes to provide that information to both defense counsel and prosecutors in a timely manner… then that impedes the criminal justice system.”
And the impacts are being felt in the courtroom. McEachin said at least once a month, and sometimes "on very serious cases," a defense attorney will successfully move to have a trial postponed, or continued, on the basis of a late jury list.
“It’s only until the last 72 hours that the case is yanked out from under you, and that's just devastating to victims and witnesses," McEachin said.
She cited two times so far this year in which that's occurred, in the case of William Hicks, who's charged with malicious wounding and shooting or stabbing. And Mykel Carter, charged in connection with an alleged armed robbery. Outcomes in both cases are pending.
McEachin said the Commonwealth objects to these requests and she called delays like these a "strategy" that hurts the prosecution's case.
“The thought is, the longer a case goes on, the more difficult it is for the Commonwealth, because we have the burden of proof. And so the longer a case goes, the more likely it is that the officer retires, the officer moves to a different police force, the witness dies, the witness moves to a different state," McEachin said.
But defense attorneys reject that notion. Carter's counsel Mackenzie Clements, speaking generally and not about Carter's specific case, said this is a due process matter.
“I see it squarely as trying to advocate for a fair and impartial trial and protect my client's constitutional rights," Clements said in a phone interview.
She added she does not experience this problem in Chesterfield or Henrico and that there should be an equal administration of justice across the state.
Hicks' counsel Katherine Poindexter, who said she could not speak specifically on Hicks' case, expressed similar sentiments. She said she frequently has "to run upstairs and downstairs, hunting down jury lists" only to receive conflicting information from court officials as to where the list is.
"There is not enough time for a private defense attorney, who has limited resources, to research that many prospective jurors when the list is received, say, on a Monday, and your jury is on a Wednesday. Who is at fault for this and why is this so challenging in Richmond where it is not an issue at all in our neighboring jurisdictions?" Poindexter said. “The criminally accused have the inalienable right to a fair and unbiased trial by a jury of their peers. The Commonwealth, likewise, has a duty to the charged citizens of a municipality to safeguard these sacred rights. It’s difficult for me to reckon with, rationally, why the Commonwealth would object to such request for a continuance — particularly with all the law enforcement and tools they have available to them to do jury research."
She believes the jury office may not be equipped and staffed to handle an increased demand in jury trials stemming from recent legislative changes.
McEachin said she's not sure whether the issue stems from resource constraints or outdated systems but that whatever the root cause is, "it needs to be addressed."
"Justice is delayed and denied to both defendants and victims because of these late jury lists," McEachin said.
CBS 6 requested an interview with Sheriff Irving for this story. Spokesperson Catherine Green responded with a statement that read, "The jury office is tasked with providing a panel of potential jurors. The panel will include the names of all individuals summoned to appear on the particular day of the week that the jury trial is scheduled to go forward. On any given day there could be multiple jury trials in which individuals may be needed on any given date. A panel is created for each case in accordance with the number of cases on the docket for that date."
When asked for a more specific response about the timeliness of the jury list, Green said, "We address all concerns that are brought to our attention."
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