Alberta Court of Queen’s Bench

By Sheldon Spackman

Access To Justice

Jury trials resume in Red Deer

Nov 2, 2020 | 3:03 PM

Court of Queen’s Bench jury trials have now resumed in Red Deer.

After being suspended in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, jury trials are now taking place at The Baymont Inn and Suites and Westerner Park due to the lack of space at Red Deer Courthouse to meet physical distancing requirements.

Darryl Ruether, Executive Legal Counsel, Court of Queen’s Bench Alberta, says the first jury trial at The Baymont Inn and Suites began with jury selection Monday morning.

“We needed a large space for jury selections because we call a lot of people in,” he explains. “There has to be enough space for us to call in a significant number of people and socially distance them as they wait. We also need separate rooms where we can have a socially distanced jury sit to deliberate.”

Ruether notes the need for a retiring room for the Justice when trial is not sitting.

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“And we need space that passes the safety review by the sheriffs who are responsible for transporting prisoners and ensuring that the jury is appropriately sequestered and safe,” he points out. “Those primary considerations are what resulted in our selecting the facilities that we did.”

Ruether says it’s important to be able to resume jury trials in the city.

“They are an essential element of our justice system and all of the courts across the country have to be mindful of the potential of ‘stay’ applications on the basis of delay,” warns Ruether. “COVID may have changed the calculus a little bit in terms of counting delay, but at some point, all of the courts have to make the arrangements necessary to get jury trials back on their feet so that inordinate delay doesn’t result in ‘stays’.”

A “stay of proceedings” halts further prosecution of a court case. However, charges can be brought back within one year of being stayed.

Ruether says roughly 45 jury trials in Red Deer were put on hold by the pandemic.

“That’s a lot, but a number of things are done to mitigate that situation,” he explains. “Many of these have been rescheduled already and some of them have re-elected trials by judge alone which is something that is much easier for us to accommodate than a jury trial.”

Ruether says it’s essentially up to Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer of Health as to when jury trials could resume at the Red Deer Courthouse.

“We’re going to keep looking at that and see what is possible with our existing facilities. If modifications can be made to resume jury trials at the courthouses, that would be welcome. But above all, we are committed to following the directions of the Chief Medical Officer of Health.”

RELATED: Off-site locations being explored for Red Deer jury trials