The postponement of all Superior Court trials until at least January means defendants will stay in jail longer, raising the question of their constitutional right to a speedy trial. Chief Justice of the Superior Court Tina Nadeau decided to postpone jury trials, the state judicial branch announced Friday, in an effort to slow COVID-19 spread and keep trial participants safer. Courts closed during the first coronavirus wave last spring, and trials only resumed in late summer. But as infection rates rose again, Nadeau canceled trials at Strafford County Superior Court in November, citing poor air circulation. Last week, she called off trials scheduled for January at Belknap County, Hillsborough County-South and Sullivan County superior courts.
There will be no in-person trials in any of New Hampshireâs superior courts for the rest of the year, after Chief Justice of the Superior Court Tina Nadeau decided to postpone jury trials in the face of COVID-19 spread. Nadeau canceled trials at Strafford County Superior Court in November. Last week, she canceled trials scheduled for January at Belknap County, Hillsborough County-South, and Sullivan County Superior Courts. On Friday, the New Hampshire Judicial Branch announced that all other trials scheduled in the stateâs superior courts will be put off until 2021, with some trials scheduled in January. Nadeau and other court officials consulted with an epidemiologist to determine that the court could not hold jury trials safely, according to a news release from the state judicial branch. Poor air circulation in the courthouses, and high rates of virus transmission have made jury trials unsafe, Nadeau said in a statement.