eT Ny Law Jury ie an Se edad cs ae Boe Bowen, Houston, TX (TLC July 2018) Daniel Ogbeide and Bri Holcombe | i BEBO ELEC, 2020 was a year we will neve forget. 1am proud that my firm participated in the frst in Harris County, Texas, since the COVID-19 pan and only family la jury cil he demic began. Below is my experience and lessons learned This was a group effort, wi he lead role but supported by several attorneys and staff. The clenc himself presented particular challenges ro che case, often bucking orders from the court and advice of his lawyers, TLC teaching in role reversal reminded me thar this client needed eo be heard. And I knew I could at least give him that. So, we went t0 tal | ‘Advance Planning in a Difficult Venue A few days befor the tril started, my co-counsel, Daniel Ogbeide, and [arrived atthe NRG Stadium, which was to be the location for jury selection; we realized we needed (0 craluae the technology provided and layout so thar we could best prepae fr juny selec tion and vor dir. It was diferent and strange from the normal courthouse. Only basic technology was made avilable, a microphone and speakers. I could see the red X's raped on the chars ro denote here the jury pool was to be seated. The echo in the arena was constant and distracting, and the distance beoween the vise and counsel was signifi cant-—well oer70 feet othe furthest juror. I imagined the jurors looming above me, ike The Warrior Winer 202i 55A COVID-19 Famiy Law Jury Tria Experience - THe Bowen Law Fin PERSPECTIVE [= ears ‘vultures ina eee, judging me. ‘On the day of che accual jury selection, each juror, attorney, and the judge had access ,0 a microphone, and each was re ‘quired (0 wear a fice shield. The speakers provided were not powerful, and everyone was wearing face covering —some wore tasks and others shields, some wore both, It was often dfficule to hear what che speaker was saying. Everything was muffled, Very often, we had to ask potential jurors to repeat what they hhad just said, Not being able o see the persons mouth and read facial reactions made us rely on body language and tone of voice Fortunately, the venire is seated in a staggered arrangement out 0 we can at least see body language. Our judge conducted some voir dire explaining the COV- ID precautions and how distancing and masking requirements 56 the Warrior would work. Afer the judge's confrontation of the COVID i su nether [nor opposing counsel discussed it with the jurors The entice tral was a showcase of COVID precautions, and the odd conduct of i reinforced this everyday. The distance beoween counsel and the jury also made it die fcule to connect. ‘The face coverings, echo, distance, and cold surroundings of a sports arena made the whole experience t= natural and unfamiliar, Each obstacle described brought is O¥8 level of dificuley to che proces, and another degree of sepa tion between counsel and the jury pool The venie inthe “cheap seats’ sitting raised above us and 70 feet away or mare from counsel it fel as if they were another world away. [ remember thinking “thank goodness there is only a small chance that they will be on this jury”. Even the venire closes ro us fle distantA COVID-19 Fam Law Jury Talat Exeerience - Te Bowen Law Fin PERSPECTIVEA COVID-19 Famivy Law Jury Triat Experience - THe Bowen Law Firm PERSPECTIVE within che huge stadium, its cold chairs, and people in masks doing everything they can t0 not participate. The distance berween made them look even more individual. They were nota group or a tribe. 1 felt I had to win cach one individually, and like U had no chance of bringing them rogether. Despite all of these challenges, I was able to get jurors talking. Ac firs ic was tough as they battled over my frst question, The question. was something like, “There are two types of people: some who feel that a mother always knows best; others feel that as long asthe child has a loving parent, either mother or father is fine. How do you fee! about this?” The question did nothing but separate chem and they just went back and forth. Finally I gata chance to redirect the ques tion to another topic. It was due to one veniteman who was expect: ing a child at any moment. I asked the others to give the expectant father tips on whar they thought made parene great. The jury could not wait co help him. The answers and tips gave us loads of informa- ‘on and we ran out of time before I could get to everybody Despite the difficulty of hearing as well as the other challenges described, we managed to selec cwelve jurors and one alternate ju ror after two jurors in the medical fields were excused from service because they were essential p sonnel, This is the Fist time I have “essential workers”, We were for tunate to have a venire of about 58 people to pick from. Because of COVID we had only 28 originally, but another tral settled and we ‘were able todd their poo! to ours. Asa result, we had thirten jurors ready for wal at the conclusion of voir dire, taking hours to complete, not including drive and set up time. We brought our laprops and other equipment to the stadiu courtroom for testing a day before the jury selection, and were h py we did. The stadium-courtroom was not equipped with modern computer connectors like HDMI cables. [had to make several trips to Best Buy to purchase suitable connectors thae would work with the court’s fairly outdated systems. ‘The court had also instructed the attorneys to make a binder of their exhibits for a binder due to the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to make more than 20 binders of abour a thousand pages each worth of exhibits to accommodate che socal distancing requirements. This was a lage Undertaking both in manpower, supplies and time. In addition, we were requited to send a Dropbox link containing our exhibits co the court several days before the tral released a juror because they we fh juror, as they were not allowed 10 share Back in a Real Courtroom When we recurned to a real courttoom, it looked very different from what we are used to secing. The courtroom was rearranged in, order to accommodate social distancing. The judge sa on her bench, 3s usual, but the jury st in the pews inthe back of the courtroom and ehe witnesses were questioned in the jury box. The jury box be ‘ame the witness seat. The attorneys satin fronc of the bench, with their backs co the judge. “Tis positioning fle incredibly awkward. Not only was it dfficule to hear the judge speak, but making an objection became physically ‘lumsy. We had to stand up in our chair and then turn around to face the judge. Ie was also difficult observe the jury because of where they sat, We truly needed a second pair of eyes to watch the jury 58 TheWarrlotACOVID-19 Famiy Law Jury TRIAL Experience - THe Bowen Law Firm PERSPECTIVE ewe questioned our witnesses. rej puyc the case ould only have one lead attorney and ga he eo-counsel or suppor staff at counsel table, as there oe ply bea maximum of 25 people inthe courtroom at any sain gme-This number includes the jurors and judges sta Be ed seated for opening statements, direct and cros ss, We could sit or sind, but we could no move aa The court added an extra monitor forthe jurors to see isa we dsplayed them. Jurors could not handle any or exhibits unl both sides had rested. ee shies and masks impaired speaking and hearing “Theis nas streamed on Facebook Live; some of the comments ceive fom the people who watched the trial via social me- amen that the audio was of poor quality and that chey could soc ear us prope Pls, in te middle of the wal che feed was taken ever by another cour and people could not view it for sboutan hou Because ofthe unreliable feed, support staf view- ing from the offie were unable ro relly be of mich meaning fap leaving us feling Somewhat lacking ovr anchor at home port This made ic that much more nerve-wracking. Each time the jurors came into the courtroom, they had ro sivoneaftershe other, aking more time than would normally aluable ime that was then taken from accal tial time. We also had to direct the jurors watch the monitors each time w dlsplyed our ehibits since they did not have the physical cop ies diseibured to them during the trial. Everything rook longs Everything was harder. Additional Burdens of the Covid Courtroom “There was no option to physically approach the bench. Infact we were directed not to approach, treated more as lepers than counsel. When we needed to approach the bench for sidebars, ‘we had to press a button om a wireless device that was connected only the headsets provided to the atorneys and the judge. Lead attorneys were given headphones and microphones (0 talk 10 the judge and other attomeys. The judge would play white noise cover the loudspeaker and the jury could get up and stretch. ‘This hhlped the jury stay focused because there were many opporti- nities to getup and re-shif their focus. But when the opposing counsel mistakenly pressed and held his device, the rest of us could not speak 0 the judge. We did not realize the problem tunel the next day after technical support was called to trouble- shoot che problem, ‘The biggest inconvenience | experienced during the COV- 1D-19 jury trial was when we had to remove certain exhibits the judge had excluded from all welve juror’ binders. My co- counsel had to painstakingly remove the excluded exhibits from the binders, and she did not come back in time to do the direct examination for our thre lat witnesses, which were witnesses assigned co her. had to do direct examinations myself. Thank fully, we had prepared for this type of contingency: the frst two examinations went well and my stesed co-counsel made it in time t examine the lst witness It Ended Well Being able to litigate in the first jury al since the COV- I-19 pandemic was truly special and monumental. We had the opportunity to help establish health and safety protocols for the new world we find ourselves enduring. Although che jury trial took place during the COVID-19 pandemic, we adjusted and accommodated to the situation as it presented itsell, Our client did not get everything he wanted, but was awarded more ducing tral chan the opposing side had wanted to give outside the court room. Overall, chis was a great learning experience. We added new arrows to our quiver. Iwas a chance for our firm to be of service to the court and the community in working through the chal- lenge of how to try family law jury tral ina manner that would be safe and fair, without exposing jurors, court staff the parties ‘or counsel toa deadly vieus in the process. While the trial was dificult and cense in the moment, our participation helped to set the stage for the rest of the jury trials in the upcoming year. am grateful to my team for their hard work and assistance not only witha challenging trial bue in helping me recount iin this pice, Daniel Opbeide deserves special mention for ths. I dont know what I would have done without him. @ nse Daniel Ogbeide and Bri Holcombe Bio sa navve Texan. He xs and eperstes The Bowen Law Firm, PLLC. He helps Tesans with their Exae Planning Probate, Personal Injury and family lw matters. His fe time or gest pleasure is spent staining himself wit the lve of hs fait The Warrior Winter 2021 59 an