Judges make adjustments as trials resume in courts
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Jurors are going back to school in a northern Michigan county as judges try to get trials going again after a timeout during the coronavirus pandemic.
In Grand Traverse County, a civil trial in an auto negligence case will start Tuesday. To comply with distancing requirements, jury selection will be held in the auditorium at Traverse City Central High School. The trial will then shift to a regular courtroom.
“We’re hearing this is going to be one of the first jury trials since COVID, if not the first,” said Judge Kevin Elsenheimer.
A criminal trial next week will follow the same procedures, he said.
“When students return, we’ll have to think of another solution or hopefully begin normal operations of the court,” Elsenheimer said.
During the trials in Traverse City, jurors will sit in the jury box and the spectator gallery. The public can watch by video in a separate room or possibly on YouTube.
Lawsuit: Teen cried ‘I can’t breathe’ during restraint
WEST BLOOMFIELD, Mich. (AP) — A civil lawsuit filed Monday following the death of a 16-year-old alleges that video from a Michigan youth facility recorded the Black teen screaming “I can’t breathe” as a staff member placed weight on his chest for nearly 10 minutes.
The lawsuit filed in Kalamazoo County Circuit Court names Lakeside Academy in Kalamazoo and Sequel Youth and Family Services as defendants.
Cornelius Fredericks died May 1 after going into cardiac arrest April 29. At the time, authorities said he was being restrained by staff after throwing a sandwich.
His death came nearly a month before George Floyd died May 25 in Minneapolis. Floyd died after a white officer pressed his knee into his neck for several minutes even after the handcuffed Black man stopped moving and pleading for air.
Floyd’s dying words, “I can’t breathe,” have become a rallying call for people protesting police violence against Blacks and racial injustice during demonstrations across the U.S.
“The excessive use of restraints and the lack of concern for Cornelius’s life draw an eerily similar comparison to that of George Floyd’s death,” according to the lawsuit, which alleges negligence and says Lakeside staff improperly and wrongfully used restraints on Fredericks.
The race of the staff member or members involved wasn’t immediately known. The lawsuit seeks damages allowed under the Michigan Wrongful Death Act. No financial amount was specified.
The foster care system or parents placed youths in Lakeside Academy, a residential treatment facility about 140 miles (225 kilometers) west of Detroit, to receive behavioral health services after being abused or neglected.
The state last week terminated its contracts with Lakeside for youth in Michigan’s foster care and juvenile justice systems and said all 125 youth at Lakeside were placed in other “settings based on their individual needs.”
The facility also had its license to operate suspended.
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/subscriptions
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
––––––––––––––––––––
Subscribe to the Legal News!
http://legalnews.com/Home/Subscription
Full access to public notices, articles, columns, archives, statistics, calendar and more
Day Pass Only $4.95!
One-County $80/year
Three-County & Full Pass also available
