Order - United States v. Maurice Fayne related docket

Record facts

U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia · No. 1:20-cr-00228-MHC-JKL · Doc. 87 · 2020-09-29 · Docket on CourtListener

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FILED IN CLERK'S OFFICE 
U.S.O.C. • Atlanta 
• . 
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT 
NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA 
• 
SEP 2 8 2020 
JAMEA N. HATTEN, Clerk 
By: lj (Vj ~
eputy Clerk 
IN RE: COURT OPERA TIO NS UNDER 
THE EXIGENT CIRCUMSTANCES 
CREATED BY COVID-19 AND RELATED 
CORONA VIRUS 
ORDER 
GENERAL ORDER 20-01 
Eighth Amendment 
General Order 20-01, dated March 16, 2020, as amended by orders dated March 30, 
2020; April 30, 2020; May 26, 2020; July 1, 2020; July 10, 2020; August 3, 2020; and 
September 1, 2020; addresses Court operations for the United States District Court for the 
Northern District of Georgia under the exigent circumstances created by the Coronavirus 
Pandemic and the spread ofCOVID-19. The Seventh Amendment to General Order 20-01 , 
entered September 1, 2020, extended the time periods specified in the Order through and 
including November 1, 2020. 
Data from the Georgia Department of Public Health reflects that the average number 
of confirmed new COVID-19 cases in the State of Georgia remains significantly in excess 
of 1,000 cases per day as do the fourteen and seven-day averages for daily confirmed cases 
within the State. These numbers far exceed those that existed at the time the Court entered 
General Order 20-01 and are among the highest nationally. Georgia now ranks fourth in 
the United States in total cases behind only California, Florida, and Texas. The four 
counties within Georgia with the most confirmed COVID-19 cases: Fulton, Gwinnett, 
Cobb, and DeKalb, are all within the Northern District. Together these counties currently 
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account for almost thirty percent of the cases within the State. While declining from the 
extreme highs experienced in July, the percentage of those tested for COVID-19 who test 
positive still exceeds eight percent, again among the highest positivity rates nationally. As 
reflected in the data, the prevalence of COVID-19 within the District is far greater than it 
was on March 16, 2020, when the Court originally entered General Order 20-01. 
The total number of COVID-19 deaths in Georgia and the Northern District 
continues to rise, and no vaccine or cure is yet available to the general public. There has 
been no change to the President's declaration of a national emergency under the National 
Emergencies Act (50 U.S.C. § 1601 et seq.) due to COVID-19 or to the findings of the 
Judicial Conference of the United States that emergency conditions due to this national 
emergency have materially affected and will materially affect the functioning of the federal 
courts generally. Specifically, within the Northern District, emergency conditions have 
prevented defense counsel from meeting with their in-custody clients and have severely 
limited communications with those clients in general. Capabilities provided by technology, 
while helpful, are inadequate to offset the impediments currently confronted by counsel in 
this District. Other aspects of case preparation have been similarly impacted. As a result of 
Georgia's level of COVID-19 infections and test positivity, witness travel has been 
problematic due to quarantine regulations in effect in many states that apply to persons 
traveling to and from Georgia. These circumstances and others have severely impeded if 
not prevented counsels' ability to prepare for trial. 
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To date the Court has suspended jury trials in the hopes that COVID-19 could be 
contained, and its threat eliminated. The continued spread of COVID-19 within the United 
States and Georgia after months of intense preventative measures, however, makes clear 
that the resumption of jury trials cannot await the complete demise of this disease. At the 
same time, the Court will not reinitiate jury trials while it deems the public health and safety 
and that of those appearing before the Court cannot be adequately protected. Based on the 
above, it is the conclusion of the Court that a further extension of the suspension of jury 
trials is required to allow conditions within the District to sufficiently improve so that 
counsel can adequately prepare for trial and the health and safety of the public, those 
appearing before the Court, and the Court itself, can be adequately safeguarded. The 
extension of the suspension of jury trials also will facilitate the further coordination of 
health and safety procedures that will be required when jury trials resume, which the Court 
plans to occur in January 2021. 
Therefore, 
IT IS HEREBY ORDERED that General Order 20-01, as amended, is further 
amended to extend the time periods specified therein through and including the date of 
January 3, 2021. 
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that while there will be no civil or criminal jury 
trials in any division of the Northern District of Georgia until after January 3, 2021 , grand 
jurors may continue to be summoned and grand jury proceedings may continue to be held; 
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and summonses may be issued to prospective jurors for civil and criminal jury trials 
scheduled to begin after January 3, 2021. 
IT IS FURTHER ORDERED that the time period of any continuance entered as 
a result of this Order (whether that continuance causes a pre-indictment delay or a pre-trial 
delay) shall be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, 18 U.S.C. § 316l(h)(7)(A), as the 
Court finds that the ends of justice served by taking that action outweigh the interests of 
the parties and the public in a speedy trial. Absent further order of the Court or any 
individual judge, the period of exclusion shall be from March 23, 2020, through and 
including January 3, 2021. The Court may extend the period of exclusion as circumstances 
may warrant. This Order and period of exclusion are incorporated by reference as a specific 
finding under 18 U.S.C. § 316l(h)(7)(A) in the record of each pending case where the 
Speedy Trial Act applies. See Zedner v. United States, 547 U.S. 489, 506-07 (2006). The 
periods of exclusion in the Court' s prior orders on this subject, General Order 20-01 and 
its subsequent amendments, are likewise incorporated by reference as a specific finding 
under 18 U.S.C. § 3161 (h)(7)(A) in the record of each pending case where the Speedy Trial 
Act applies. 
SO ORDERED this -2!L day of September 2020. 
THOMAS W. THRASH, JR. 
CHIEF UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE 
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