The King County Superior Court judge presiding over the Devan Schmidt murder trial is struggling with the challenges of COVID-19 and Zoom video calls.
CHS reported here on the start of the trial last week some six years after police and prosecutors say the 29-year-old Madison Valley woman was raped and murdered in her home after a night of partying.
The Seattle legal proceedings, already delayed by COVID-19 restrictions and the decision by defendant Eric Sims to waive his right to a jury and put his trial in the hands of Judge Johanna Bender, now have a new wrinkle with an order earlier this week from Bender shutting down a Zoom videoconference feed from the courtroom.
“The Court’s experiment in allowing remote access has not been successful; it has led to significant concerns about the integrity of the trial process,” Bender writes.
In the order, Bender said the Zoom calls — allowed by the judge so that family and those close to the victim and defendant could observe the trial without traveling during the ongoing pandemic — were putting the fairness of the trial at risk.
According to Bender, a witness whose testimony was previously excluded by the court “has become an observer” by accessing the Zoom link and contacting the judge “to advocate her position as to the facts.” The judge said the court was also facing new requests for access to the feed.
According to the judge, prosecutors “expressed concerns about misuse of social media to post portions of the trial, harass witnesses, or otherwise impede a fair trial.”
“The Court will welcome any observer in the courtroom who is not a) a witness or b) disruptive,” Bender writes. “However, over the Zoom platform the Court has limited ability to screen witnesses to make sure they are who they purport to be, and the Court has no ability to stop improper recording or distribution of sensitive information.”
In a footnote on the order, the judge says there is “no evidence that the integrity of the trial has actually been compromised” but the order was necessary to ensure a fair trial.
Under the order, some witnesses will still continue to testify via Zoom but calls will no longer be shared with friends and family members. Loved ones must now travel to Seattle to attend the court in person if they want to witness the proceedings.
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