According to Cascade County Attorney Josh Racki, many district judges have canceled trials due to COVID-19.Â
"When we're not having trials, things are getting backed up," Racki said.
One case that has seen changes is the Tony Renova homicide, as trial dates have been pushed back to the summer of 2021.Â
A year ago, 3 suspects were charged with deliberate homicide after 5-year-old Antonia "Tony" Renova was found beaten to death in a residence in Great Falls.Â
Tony's parents, Stephanie Byington, Emilio Renova Sr. and acquaintance Racso Birdtail are accused in the crime and allegedly attempted to cover it up.Â
"The Renova case had a lot of public outcry, especially locally here. If I remember correctly there were some vigils and various other things. It's a very tragic case. So, as a result of that, the attorneys in those cases argued that they couldn't get a fair trial here or at least a jury that didn't know about the case given the media attention. We didn't, we being the state, didn't argue with them just said 'that's fine we'll do the trial in another jurisdiction,'" Racki said.Â