ST. LOUIS (KMOX) - The number of criminal cases awaiting trial in the city is up 17% over a normal year, as the top judge worries things could get worse if the COVID virus flares up.
Michael Stelzer, Presiding Judge of the 22nd Judicial Circuit, says the situation is "manageable," with some 2,000 criminal cases awaiting trial, but he wants to keep the cases moving.
"You know, a month ago, I thought we were clear sailing," Stelzer says, "and now I have to show a little bit of concern for how the Delta variant is in our state, and may be heading here, and may already be here for all I know."
Since March, when the criminal courts re-opened, the city has held about a dozen jury trials. Another 300 cases have been cleared through plea bargains, Stelzer says.
Stelzer was asked if the backlog means more accused criminals are getting out before trial.
"Yes, there are more folks being released pre-trial than previously," Stelzer said.
The presiding judge was asked if that's a concern for public safety.
"I guess it could be. Hopefully, the judges are making the right decisions on who needs to be detained and who isn't," Stelzer said.
Some of those accused criminals released before trial are confined to house arrest and monitored by GPS tracking, Stelzer said.
Another factor is the recent closing of the northside jail, the Workhouse, a campaign pledge of Mayor Tishaura Jones.
At the end of last year before the northside jail was closed, the city was holding 816 accused criminals awaiting trial At the end of June, the city was holding 602, Stelzer said.
The average wait time for criminal trial after arrest is more than a year, Stelzer says. He's hoping to keep up the current pace of jury trials, if not increase the pace, depending on how the virus goes.
The 22 Judicial Circuit has yet to resume Civil Court jury trials this year, because the focus has been on dealing with violent crime cases.
Stelzer says he hopes to restart civil cases later this year.
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