SAN ANTONIO – Many bars in Bexar County reopened Wednesday with strict limitations that include 50% capacity after being closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While bars may start looking somewhat back to normal, that is not the case at the Bexar County Courthouse, where there have been no jury trials for the past eight months.
The lack of in-person court hearings troubles defense attorneys and their clients, as evidenced by a conversation with a client that attorney John Kuntz shared with KSAT 12 News.
“He said, 'Now wait a minute. The right to party is more important than my Sixth Amendment rights to a speedy trial? '“ Kuntz recalled.
The courthouse trial shutdown is for the safety of jurors, according to Local Administrative Judge Ron Rangel.
The judge said if a juror is summoned to appear, he or she must show up, whereas bar patrons are in bars voluntarily.
”We want to go out of our way to insure that public safety is first,” Rangel said recently. “That’s been our message from the beginning, and it’s not going to stop.”
Kuntz’s concern, like that of most defense attorneys, is about justice and fairness.
“When are we going to start caring about people’s liberties and people’s rights?” he asked while talking about people in jail awaiting trial.
Kuntz said his frustration with the limitations dictated by the pandemic goes beyond attorneys and their clients.
“I understand where the judges are coming from, and I’m not upset with the judges,”Kuntz said. “This is a shifting circumstance for everyone.”