NEW BOSTON, Texas - More than 100 Bowie County citizens reported for juror qualification Thursday at the New Boston High School auditorium.
The auditorium was used to allow for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic instead of the central jury room typically used as it allows for many more people to be seated at six feet apart.
Some of the panel is being asked to return June 23 for jury selection at the auditorium before 5th District Judge Bill Miller in an aggravated robbery case. While jury selection will occur in the auditorium, the trial is expected to take place in Miller's courtroom with some changes being made out of concern for public health.
Instead of sitting shoulder to shoulder in the jury box, jurors will be spread out in seats usually reserved for the public. Members of the public who wish to view the trial will be able to do so via a livestream of the trial which will feed into the large central jury room on the courthouse's second floor.
On June 29, some of the panel members qualified Thursday will report to the high school auditorium for jury selection before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell in the trial of a local pastor accused of child sexual abuse. Tidwell is expected to conduct the trial in the auditorium with no livestreaming.
Miller said multiple other precautions are being taken to insure that jurors and others present for the trial are not forced to gather closely.