Jury trials are returning to Allegany County. Those trials were halted by an Executive Order issued by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. Last week, the governor signed an Executive Order giving the green light to several judicial activities. Bench trials continued uninterrupted in Allegany County.
Allegany County judges Thomas Brown and Terry Parker, along
with court staff, will put together an action plan regarding how trials can be
conducted safely. There will be very limited in-person public attendance at
trials. One idea is two allow members of the public to be seated in the jury
box with the jury members themselves seated where the public once sat. Other
changes are also being reviewed. One of the first cases to be brought to trial
will either be a case involving a man charged with criminally negligent homicide
involving a drug overdose death or the case against 18-year-old William J.
Larson Jr. of Clarksville, who is accused of killing his parents. None of the
eight defendants involved in the murder of a man inside his Main Street
apartment in Wellsville will be brought to trial this year.
