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.