Here is what is being discussed to open the Miami Courthouses. Note that in true Florida fashion as it now stands you can walk into a courthouse without a mask, but need a mask for a courtroom. This info is from a widely circulated email, the reprinting of which we have done without the express written consent of the National Football league, subjecting us to all sorts of nasty criminal and civil liability.
Here are a few possible changes that were preliminarily discussed:
ZOOM vs. IN-PERSON
Judges would conduct both in-person AND Zoom calendars for daily calendar – not simultaneously, but separate calendars altogether. The presumption is that the lawyer would appear in-person, but can arrange a Zoom hearing instead by contacting the JA ahead of time
An example of how this might occur is to have regular in-person calendar starting at 9am and the same judge having a separate Zoom calendar at 10:01am (any Zoom calendar would be denoted by :01 in the time it starts)
Arraignments, pleas and trials/hearings would continue to be in-person
Arraignments: as before, the lawyer can file a Notice of Appearance instead of attending and also waive client’s appearance
Hearings: Motion to Suppress, PVHs – still in-person
Trials: still in-person
Soundings: for now, still in-person; Judge Sayfie is not averse to eventually conducting soundings via Zoom; for now, she wants to start slowly with continuing Zoom; this was raised to Judge Sayfie on behalf of private attorneys
In the meantime, a couple ways to avoid having to appear for Sounding is to (1) submit an Agreed Order for Continuance to the judge beforehand or (2) filing a Motion for Continuance in advance and contacting JA to place case on Zoom calendar before Sounding date
Traffic Infractions (non-criminal): continuing on Zoom