COVID-19 is creating major difficulties for lawyers working on appeals in death penalty cases. Some judges are understanding while other judges refuse to grant any extensions. One federal judge in Arizona took it to a new level in a harsh order issued earlier this month.
Senior District Judge Neil Wake admonished lawyers representing an Arizona death row prisoner for requesting more time to investigate the case due to COVID-19 restrictions. The lawyers argue that they need more time to do their jobs properly under the circumstances.
Judge Wake claims that it is acceptable to go forward with a hearing even when lawyers have not been able to communicate with their client due to prison access restrictions. Judge Wake also claims that American Bar Association guidelines for legal representation are optional.
Judge Wake claims that shelter-in-place orders will not prevent an in-person hearing from taking place as scheduled.
Judge Wake is planning to require some expert witnesses to testify in person. Those witnesses are not willing to travel due to the pandemic. The judge seems to fault the lawyers for selecting experts who don’t live in Arizona even though that is a very common practice.
Judge Wake wrote that “the attorneys have not shown how their personal or family health issues impede their ability to carry out their duties in this case.” This comes as the United States approaches 200,000 deaths due to COVID-19. Arizona has over 212,000 positive cases to date.
Judge Wake then characterized the lawyers’ request for a continuance as a threat to “go on strike,” adding a thinly veiled threat of his own that there would be “grave consequences.”
While Judge Wake claims that he is interested in a speedy resolution to this case, he is really setting up another extended appeal process due to forcing lawyers to proceed without adequate preparation during a viral pandemic.
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