LUBBOCK, Texas – Emergency court cases that need to be heard during this COVID-19 pandemic are being done a little bit different.
“We’ve still been operating. Now, we’re conducting all of our programs either by telephone or by this technology we have here — Zoom — or with Microsoft Teams,” said Lubbock County Judge Curtis Parrish.
The judge determines how cases are handled but attorneys are noticing some of their cases getting pushed back.
“We are getting these cases moved to an indefinite date,” Cory Clements of Clements Law Firm said. “We don’t know when they will be or they are are in the summer or next month. A lot of mine were set for April but now we are seeing those are probably going to be pushed again.”
This process is working, but definitely not ideal.
“It’s really hard to try a case telephonically — entering [things] into evidence, and really getting to cross examine a witness over the phone is obviously much more difficult than in person,” said Clements.
Clements said it is also hard coming up with other ideas, like virtual mediation to keep from getting backlogged.
“Being able to continue doing mediation right now will help people get a resolution in their case. All you have to do after that is get the court order signed but the mediation can be binding and in effect at the time at signed,” said Clements.
Clements said while Texas is under a state of emergency, if a person is convicted of committing a felony during this time, the punishment can be increased. So for example, if you are convicted of criminal trespassing — normally a class B misdemeanor — it gets increased to a Class A misdemeanor.
“Which could carry up to a year and so in that instance — the maximum punishment,” he said.
Clements said the fines would double as well, so a crime that would normally incur a $2,000 fine would get a $4,000 fine during the state of emergency.
And as the social distancing continues, when it comes to Child Protective Services cases, the normal rules and guidelines stay the same. A person is still in charge of bringing their kid to and from where they should according to their custody agreement, even if the city is on stay at home orders.
