Opinion
Crim. 21- 712 (SDW)
09-15-2021
UNITED STATES v. JEFFREY BENNETT
ORDER REGARDING USE OF VIDEO CONFERENCING/TELECONFERENCING FOR FELONY PLEAS AND/OR SENTENCINGS
Honorable Susan D. Wigenton United States District Judge
In accordance with Standing Order 2020-06, this Court finds:
[] That the Defendant (or the Juvenile) has consented to the use of video teleconferencing/teleconferencing to conduct the proceedings) held today, after consultation with counsel; and
[] That the proceeding(s) to be held today cannot be further delayed without serious harm to the interests of justice, for the following specific reasons:
See Attachment A
Accordingly, the proceeding(s) held on this date may be conducted by:
[] Video Teleconferencing
[] Teleconferencing, because video teleconferencing is not reasonably available for the following reason:
[] The Defendant (or the Juvenile) is detained at a facility lacking video teleconferencing capability.
[] Other:
ATTACHMENT A
The Court finds that the guilty plea hearing to be held on September 15, 2021, cannot be further delayed without serious harm to the interests of justice, for the following reasons:
1. To ensure that the Court is not overwhelmed by cases and proceedings at the conclusion of this period of emergency. Currently, District Judges in New Jersey handle a substantially larger docket of cases than Judges in other Districts in the United States. New criminal cases continue to be assigned by the Court during the emergency. If the Court cannot resolve matters now by guilty plea, the resulting backlog will overwhelm the Court's ability to function effectively. The concern of such congestion and the particular harm that likely will be caused by delays in the processing of cases and matters in the future is particularly acute in this emergency, at least given that: (1) it is unknown when this emergency will subside and when the Court will be able to function at normal capacity; and (2) this District's pre-existing shortage of District Court Judges which already has challenged the Court's ability to process and resolve cases. This District currently has four District Judge vacancies, all of which have been pending for more than a year. The Federal Judicial Conference has deemed the District's vacancies judicial emergencies.
2. To permit defendant JEFFREY BENNETT to obtain a speedy resolution of his case through an admission of guilt, and to make amends to any victims through an admission of responsibility and restitution. Defendant BENNETT has asked for this case to be resolved today by guilty plea.
3. To permit the victims of this offense, namely, the postal customers whose mail was stolen and certain financial institutions, the ability to obtain a speedy determination of guilt/responsibility for the harm caused to them by the offender and his co-conspirators and to obtain restitution in an amount to be determined at sentencing.
4. To permit the Government to obtain a resolution of the case so that the Government, already operating in a restricted capacity due to the emergency, may appropriately focus its resources on other, emerging criminal matters. The Government has asked for this case to be resolved today by guilty plea.