Texas Tries Nation’s First Virtual Criminal Trial

A Texan’s speeding ticket put her in the legal history books last week.

To combat the backlog in criminal cases created by the pandemic, a Travis County justice of the peace conducted the nation’s first virtual criminal trial. The case was livestreamed on YouTube, and the jurors deliberated in a private Zoom room.

Legal experts debated whether trial by Zoom properly balanced constitutional concerns such as the right to a speedy trial and the right to confront witnesses.

The test case? A nurse’s misdemeanor ticket for speeding in a construction zone. The jury found the nurse, Calli Kornblau, guilty of speeding but acquitted her of the construction zone violation. She received a deferred sentence and was ordered to pay a $50 fine, plus court costs.

The jury is still out on whether Zoom is the courthouse of the future.

he Texas Criminal Defense Lawyers Association had some fun on Twitter with the practice: “A JP is having a virtual jury trial this morning on a speeding ticket. Does that mean the JP will have to have virtual coffee with the police officer before the trial starts, too?”

Texas docs: Get your shots

Texas doctors are taking their best shot at encouraging people to get immunized.

August is National Immunization Month, and the Texas Medical Association is distributing a series of columns by physicians in support of vaccinations.

“Vaccines are among the safest and most effective tools available to and used by physicians. Yet vaccine hesitancy and even refusal are increasing,” Dr. Sue Bornstein, a Texas Medical Association board member, wrote in her column.

Doctors should make recommending vaccinations a part of routine patient visits, she said. The pandemic makes this even more important as researchers race to develop a vaccine for COVID-19, she added.