Daviess County grand jury proceedings will not resume until early February due to issues stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kentucky’s Chief Justice John Minton issued an order in November stating grand jury proceedings must be held either virtually, or not at all.
Daviess Circuit Judge Jay Wethington issued a local order on Nov. 20 to cease proceedings after finding that the current grand jury — which operates on a volunteer basis — could not conduct proceedings virtually.
Daviess County’s Commonwealth Attorney Bruce Kuegel said the grand jury was surveyed about whether they had reliable internet service, regular access to a computer and a location in their home where they could be alone in order to participate in trials and activity.
“Grand jury proceedings are required to be secret. If you have small children, [confining yourself to a secure, separate room] throughout the day can be very difficult,” Kuegel said. “We had grand jury in November, but did not have it in December, and we won’t have it in January.”
Kuegel said the orders have caused somewhat of a backlog in court cases. Non-violent cases are being pushed back to March, he said. The trial for one defendant in a triple homicide case that occurred in January 2019 has been postponed until Fall 2021.
“Things are still happening. Crimes are still being committed and arrests are being made,” he said. “Those orders are limiting people coming into the building itself.”
Kuegel said he hoped the restrictions would be eased by the end of January, but a lot of what happens in the future is dependent on whether the state’s COVID-19 situation gets better.
“We are not having any trials, and that’s a problem,” Kuegel said. “We’ll see how things open up in February. I think they’ll open up gradually.”
—–
