Judge Amy Clark Meacham opened the Oct. 6 jury-docket call by outlining the court’s jury-docket procedure, explaining that the court asks attorneys whether they are ready for trial, whether a continuance is sought, how long the trial and pretrial will take, and whether ADR and interpreters have been secured.
Meacham said the court staggers venire (juror-pool) panels — some Monday afternoon, some Tuesday morning, some Tuesday afternoon — to ease parking congestion when hundreds of prospective jurors arrive. “When the venire panels get called, they don’t have parking yet … if we bring them in groups, the parking works pretty easily,” the judge said.
The judge cautioned that October is a heavy month for trials, with many attorneys setting trials then, and that the court had a long standby list. At one point during the call Meacham warned attendees that a fire drill at the courthouse might clear the building and could delay individual appearances; later in the docket she confirmed that the building had been cleared for the drill and that some attorneys and staff had been delayed returning.
Meacham identified court-management director Jacob Stokes as the contact for attorneys who want to seek alternate jury settings off the October docket and said court staff would keep the Zoom session live during any delay.