Boston Preps For 1st Big Jury Trial, Lysol At The Ready
Chris Villani, 19 April 2021
A Boston federal judge on Monday laid out plans for the district’s first high-profile criminal jury trial since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, walking attorneys through an exhaustive set of safety measures including witness stands encased in plexiglass and disposable microphone covers.
Jury selection in the trial of former Fall River Mayor Jasiel Correia, who is facing bribery, fraud and tax charges, is set to begin on Tuesday. Prosecutors claim Correia solicited bribes from cannabis businesses seeking to open in his city and also defrauded investors in an app he created.
U.S. District Judge Douglas P. Woodlock held a two-part pretrial conference Monday morning, half of it in the second-floor jury assembly room and the other half in his third-floor courtroom.
“This is a work in progress,” Judge Woodlock said. “We are going to do the very best we can to provide an orderly, fair but overall safe way of proceeding in this case.”
Among the precautions will be a courtroom census to closely monitor who will be in the room more than briefly during the three-week trial. Under the guidelines set out by the court, only 26 people will be allowed in the room, or one person for every 100 square feet.
