A federal judge in Sherman has halted a jury trial underway in his courtroom in which multiple people involved in the trial, including two jurors, tested positive for COVID-19, according to court records and multiple sources.
In response, the Paul Brown federal courthouse will be closed the rest of the week for a deep cleaning, David O’Toole, a clerk for the Eastern District of Texas, told The Texas Lawbook.
Court records show that U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant, III of the Eastern District of Texas informed the jury Monday afternoon that a fellow juror who had been excused over the weekend for a death in the family had tested positive for COVID.
As a result, the trial was suspended. He asked the remaining jurors to be tested for COVID-19 by this Friday. Assuming everyone tests negative, the trial would resume next Tuesday, Nov. 17.
But this Tuesday, a second juror tested positive, according to lawyers familiar with the matter.
Judge Mazzant scheduled a telephonic hearing for Friday morning with the parties to determine next steps.
By Wednesday, five other people involved in the case — three for the defense and two for the plaintiffs — had also tested positive. According to one source, some test results are still pending.
The trial features a commercial dispute over property management software between Plano-based plaintiff ResMan and Houston-based defendants, Karya Property Management and Scarlet InfoTech (d/b/a Expedien). The trial began last Monday. The plan was to turn over the case to the jury on Wednesday, the sources said.
The lawyers had no criticism about the court’s safety procedures and protocols, which were described by one as going “well beyond any CDC guidelines.” The jury box was spread out. Surfaces were being constantly sanitized. With the exception of the witness and questioning lawyer, everyone remained masked. Plexiglass separated the witness from the jury box.
The sources said they were particularly at ease since Judge Mazzant has successfully conducted several in-person jury trials during the pandemic without incident.
But last week, on the third day of trial, things began to go awry. Court records show the parties decided to dismiss their eighth juror after they learned they had been exposed to someone who tested positive for COVID. The juror ended up testing negative.
Another juror was dismissed this past weekend due to a death in the family, court records show. Mazzant’s court learned Monday over the lunch hour that the same juror had tested positive for COVID.
Sources said that a member affiliated with the plaintiffs who had been sitting in the gallery had also tested positive over the weekend. The news of the other four positive tests of trial participants — one non-lawyer on the plaintiffs’ team, two lawyers and one non-lawyer on the defense — came to light after the trial was suspended.
O’Toole could not confirm whether Judge Mazzant and his staff had been tested, but he said protocol for the entire courthouse “requires anyone who comes in direct contact with someone infected with COVID to either get tested or self-quarantine for two weeks.”
While reopening of the courthouse is tentatively slated for Monday, O’Toole said the timing relies on the General Service Administration — which essentially serves as the property manager for government buildings — to follow its protocol.
Lawyers representing the plaintiff include Maria Wyckoff Boyce, Ira Jamshidi, Cristina Rodriguez, Jennifer Bevilacqua, Jillian Beck, Jessica Ellsworth, Sydney Rupe and Lee Whitesell of Hogan Lovells; Daniel Winston, Mark Edgarton, Greta Fails, Marina Pullerits and Preston Bruno of Choate Hall & Stewart; Michael Jones of Potter Minton; and William Jacks of Fish & Richardson.
Lawyers for the defense include Michael Richardson, Seepan Parseghian and Russell Post of Beck Reddden; Mark Strachan and Dick Sayles of Bradley Arant Boult Cummings; Kelly Koudelka-Clark, Michael Ellis and Steven Mitby of Seiler Mitby; and Ali Dhanani of Baker Botts.
The case is 4:19-cv-00402-ALM in the Sherman division of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas.