He did his civic duty, then tested positive. Is jury duty in Fresno a COVID sentence?

Like many summoned for jury duty, John Ayala wanted to fulfill his civic obligation as quickly and painlessly as possible. Even during the omicron surge.

“Most people are motivated to get it over with hoping it’s one day and done,” said Ayala, a professional musician who lives in Old Fig Garden.

Ayala didn’t get his wish. He ended up making three trips to Fresno County Superior Court during an eight-day span that concluded Jan. 21 when he was dismissed from the jury pool. Later that day he took a PCR-type COVID test at a clinical lab. The results came back positive.

While Ayala can’t be completely certain he picked up COVID-19 while on jury duty, he strongly suspects so.

“I’m 85 percent sure,” Ayala said. “In a room full of people you don’t know for an extended period of time. Just sharing the air with a bunch of people.”

Opinion

Ayala was asymptomatic when he tested positive. A week later, the heavy chest and slight sore throat have subsided. Still, the 69-year-old is left wondering whether reporting for jury duty during a pandemic was in effect a COVID sentence. Affecting both his own well-being and others to whom he may have unknowingly transmitted the virus.

“Either way,” Ayala said, “it’s not a very cool thing.”

Like all government institutions, Fresno County Superior Court has implemented safety measures designed to protect jurors and staff during the pandemic that comply with Cal OSHA standards. Masks are required indoors. Building interiors receive “enhanced cleaning and disinfecting.” There’s a hands-free check-in kiosk in the jury assembly room.

Moreover, prospective jurors are informed during the orientation process to stay home and seek assistance online or by phone if they are exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms, have been exposed to the virus or are subject to quarantine and isolation. So says Suzanne Abi-Rached, the court’s media coordinator and jury commissioner.

However, it doesn’t appear that information is being evenly dispersed.

Besides Ayala, I spoke with three other Fresno County residents who reported for jury duty at the main courthouse in downtown Fresno over the past month. Their experiences were different except for one common denominator: the unease they felt while seated in the 163-seat assembly room nearly or completely filled to capacity.

“I was just really amazed at the number of people in there,” said Mike Osegueda, president of Fresno Street Eats. “They used every seat. It was a little uncomfortable.”

Tower District resident Celena Martin, who was summoned during Christmas week, likened her time in the jury assembly room to “a cattle call.”

“Every seat was taken and they forced you to take an empty seat instead of trying to distance safely,” she wrote.

Different jurors, different experiences

Osegueda (a friend and former Bee colleague) told me a court official explained all the COVID protocols and options to himself and 25 fellow jurors who arrived before the building opened and were allowed inside.

However, those in Osegueda’s jury pool that trickled in afterward were not given the same instructions — at least not as extensively. Instead, COVID measures were projected on a screen at the front of the room.

Ayala, a saxophonist who plays with everyone from the Fresno Philharmonic Orchestra to the Four Tops, said he waited outside the assembly room for as long as possible for safety reasons and didn’t hear the warnings.

“I thought they would be checking temperatures, verifying vaccinations and asking questions before entering,” Ayala said. “No such luck. They only asked questions after we were all crammed in.”

According to Abi-Rached, there is no “reasonable alternative” than to have all prospective jurors assemble in one room — no matter how crowded.

Sorry, but there ought to be.

The most uncomfortable Ayala felt during his three-day service came when he and other prospective jurors spent hours inside a seventh-floor courtroom and outside hallway. He described being “packed like sardines” with fellow jurors in the gallery seating area, five to a bench.

Fresno judge expresses empathy

Before they were led upstairs, Judge Alvin Harrell spoke to jurors in the assembly room and gave assurances they were not required to participate if they felt uncomfortable for any reason.

Ayala, against his better judgment, opted to stick around.

Superior Court judges like Harrell are given great latitude over the proceedings in their respective courtrooms, including jury selection. As a result, each does things a little differently.

Harrell said he empathizes with those summoned to jury duty during the pandemic, and takes steps to minimize courtroom overcrowding, such as pre-screening them in the assembly room. In some instances, however, it can’t be helped.

“I’ve had COVID twice — I know what it’s like to have COVID,” Harrell said. “So I am very sensitive to what prospective jurors are going through.”

Harrell, who wouldn’t speculate on where he contracted the virus, told me he is constantly “surprised” by the number of people who choose to remain in the jury selection process rather than delay their service. He said more opt out due to the nature of the case or the time commitment than for COVID-19 reasons.

“I have to tip my hat to the potential jurors and jurors that have served in my courtroom since the pandemic started,” Harrell said. “Because they are doing their civic duty. They come in, they’re masked up and they take care of business.”

According to Abi-Rached, 10 impaneled jurists have contracted COVID-19 since March 2020. It is unclear whether the courts track cases for prospective jurors such as Ayala.

While Abi-Rached says the court does perform contract tracing “to the best of our ability,” Ayala believes more should be done. For example, others in his jury pool should at least have been notified of his positive test.

I get that no contingencies are infallible and the wheels of justice at Superior Court must continue to turn, pandemic or not. But under no circumstances should reporting for jury duty come with a COVID-19 sentence.