Lubbock County to Hold First Jury Trial in the Pandemic

LUBBOCK, TX – The coronavirus pandemic has affected many aspects of everyday lives, especially court proceedings.

For nearly a year the vast majority of court hearings in Texas have been held virtually. For the first time since the pandemic began, Lubbock County will hold an in-person jury trial.

According to the court docket, the case will be State vs. Joe Salinas in the 364th district court.

Salinas was charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child in 2017 and had been in jail for the last two years.

“When you don’t have trial settings, sometimes you don’t get the resolutions that you might be getting when you do in fact have trials,” said Judge Trey McClendon. “We’re eager to get back.”

According to Judge McClendon, it will take a group effort to pull of a trial.

“We’re gonna have an all hands on deck approach with our judges as far as trying cases,” he explained.

Zoom meetings have been used lately for guilty pleas and bond hearings, but this trial will be the "old-fashioned way."

“Body language, eye contact, how you act is often as important as what you say,” said McClendon said. “And there’s no substitute for doing it in person."

In order to conduct Voir Dire for jury selection, potential jurors will be required to congregate at the Civic Center.

“We’re watching the COVID clinics, and they’re not using the Civic Center on Mondays, but if that changes we might need to find another place where we can do it,” said McClendon.