Opinion
CRIMINAL NO. 1:19-00308
04-28-2020
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA v. JAN RUCKER
MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER
Pending before the court is defendant's motion to continue trial in this case sixty days due to the public health threat caused by the COVID-19 virus. (ECF No. 29.) Counsel for defendant states that the government is not opposed to a continuance of this matter. (Id.) Pursuant to this court's earlier orders, (ECF Nos. 18, 19), a jury trial was set in this case for May 27, 2020, and proposed voir dire questions, jury instructions, and witness lists were due by May 20, 2020. Pretrial motions were due by May 4, 2020, with a pretrial motions hearing set for May 11, 2020. (ECF No. 18.) The court hereby GRANTS defendant's motion to continue.
Pursuant to the General Order #5 issued by Chief Judge Thomas E. Johnston on April 14, 2020, the court has been directed to continue all criminal jury trials in the Southern District of West Virginia through May 31, 2020. See In Re: Court Operations in Light of the Exigent Circumstances Presented by the COVID-19 Pandemic, No. 2:20-mc-00052 (S.D.W. Va. April 14, 2020) (Johnston, C.J.). In ordering the continuance of defendant's trial in this matter, the court finds that due to the current danger to the public health caused by COVID-19, the ends of justice served by ordering the continuance outweigh the interests of the public and the defendant's right to a speedy trial, pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A). In so finding, the court considered the factors outlined in 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(B) and finds that a failure to order this continuance "would be likely to make a continuation of such proceeding impossible, or result in a miscarriage of justice." Id. § 3161(h)(7)(B)(i).
Accordingly, the court hereby ORDERS as follows: I. Pretrial motions are due to the court by June 29, 2020; II. The pretrial motions hearing is continued until July 6, 2020, at 11:30 a.m. in Bluefield; III. Proposed Jury Instructions, Proposed Voir Dire, and Proposed Witness Lists are due to the court by July 21, 2020; IV. Trial of this action is continued until July 29, 2020, at 9:30 a.m. in Bluefield; V. Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(7)(A), the time from May 27, 2020, to the new trial date of July 29, 2020, is excludable for purposes of the Speedy Trial Act.
The Clerk is directed to send a copy of this Memorandum Opinion and Order to all counsel of record, to the United States Marshal for the Southern District of West Virginia, and to the Probation Office of this court.
IT IS SO ORDERED this 28th day of April, 2020.
ENTER:
/s/_________
David A. Faber
Senior United States District Judge