After 17-year-old Briceno Osbaldo Castillo was arrested March 25 and charged with capital murder in the shooting deaths of two men days earlier, the court system was faced with a dilemma. Suspects who can’t make bond must have an initial appearance before a judge within 72 hours.

Usually that means the judge bringing the defendant into a courtroom to inform him or her of the charge, any bond, and whether they have an attorney. But with restrictions on court operations during a pandemic, it isn’t practical to hold those hearings in person.

Instead, Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge David Carpenter used Facetime on his iPhone while at home to hold the appearance for Castillo, who was being held in jail at the time. “It was the first time I’ve ever done that,” the judge said.

The Alabama Supreme Court first issued orders suspending many in-person hearings on March 13 and it has been extended until April 30. Certain exceptions have been added by the court to the list, including emergency hearings dealing with children and hearings to uphold a defendant’s constitutional right.

A full list of the Alabama Supreme Court orders and those issued by judges in counties around the state can be found on the coronavirus section of the Alabama State Bar website.

Some district court judges have held closed circuit initial appearances with suspects in jails for years, but now state and federal courts have expanded the use of video and audio devices to hold a wider variety of legal proceedings, including depositions, remote notary signings, and even full motion hearings with witnesses and lawyer arguments.

For example, a federal judge in Montgomery held a hearing by phone this week over whether he should permanently block Alabama’s efforts to shut down abortion services during the coronavirus crisis.

Some lawyers also are using audio and video to meet with clients or at a safe distance.

“Our office is closed to the public,” said Pell City attorney Lance Bell. “We are attempting to do any meeting over the phone and if it has to be in person they pull up in parking lot and we will walk outside and talk to them. Our real estate closing business is handled in the parking lot.”

“We are also using Zoom (video conferencing) to do as much as possible - avoiding as much contact as possible and when having contact, keeping distance,” Bell said.

Alabama went to an online court filing system - AlaCourt - years ago, so attorneys can still file lawsuits and judges can still review and even decide on motions without in-person hearings. And federal court filings and motions are done through PACER.

Attorney Martin Weinberg said he does a lot of Social Security disability hearings. “We are doing those by telephone since all SSA (Social Security Administration) offices are closed to the public. Judges are now able to do them from home.”

For Jefferson County Circuit Judge Robert Vance, who handles civil cases, the biggest difference since the courts were shut down is simply the lack of interaction with court employees, staff, litigants and lawyers. “That’s one of the parts of the job I really enjoy… now that’s all gone," he said.

Vance said his staff still comes into the office to work split shifts to keep social distancing to the maximum.

Presiding Jefferson County Circuit Court Judge Elisabeth French said that the state’s online court filing system, AlaCourt, has been updated to give judges the capability to conduct Zoom audio-video court proceedings. Alabama Supreme Court Chief Justice Tom Parker and the Administrative Office of Courts “have done an excellent job in providing this cutting-edge technology for our judicial system,” French said.

French has issued an update emergency response plan that includes a schedule of virtual hearings for judges around the county. (see below)

Jefferson County Circuit Judge Stephen Wallace last week used the audio-visual system for the first time to check on the status of participants in his mental health court docket. He said he wanted to reach out to everyone to make sure they have treatment and medication while the coronavirus crisis keeps people at home.

“It’s just to maintain contact during this very stressful time,” Wallace said. “It went very well and it was reassuring for our clients to know we are still there to help.”

Jefferson County District Court Judge Maria Fortune said last week when she held 48-hour and bond hearings for suspects arrested last week she did it by closed circuit television but also had her two cell phones on with a prosecutor on one phone and a public defender on the other.

Fortune is also over drug court. Through Zoom and phones she, case managers and defense attorneys stay in contact with the drug court participants and quickly set up emergency hearings if necessary, she said. Participants also are remaining involved with peer counselors through the technology. “We’re probably engaging them more frequently now,” she said.

Jury trials

Despite the technology, not everything can be done remotely.

What has judges and lawyers most concerned is the cancellation of jury trials and the eventual backlog of cases.

Over the past three weeks Carpenter, the presiding circuit criminal court judge in the Bessemer Cutoff, said he has continued about 300 cases that were set for trial.

“I can’t tell you when we’re going to be comfortable calling in people from the community to serve as jurors and when people are going to feel comfortable reporting for jury duty,” Carpenter said.

Carpenter and Birmingham criminal defense attorney Chris Burrell both wondered about the effects on a defendant’s constitutional right to a speedy trial.

“We will see more attorneys using this argument and there will likely be constitutional challenges,” Burrell said in a statement to AL.com.

Note: On Wednesday afternoon Presiding Jefferson County Circuit Judge Elisabeth French issued an order that cancelled jury trial weeks through May. She also defined the process for approving bail and for issuing search warrants through judges and magistrates by way of sworn testimony over the phone, Zoom and Facetime. A judge, at his or her discretion, can dispense with the requirement for a written affidavit and can authorize the person seeking the warrant to sign the judge’s name on a duplicate warrant, with the judge signing the original warrant.