Onslow County District Attorney Ernie Lee said in an email to The Daily News that due to COVID-19 issues, the trial is being rescheduled.
The Daily News has reached out to Lee along with Onslow County Superior Court Judge Charles Henry for clarification as to when the trial could be rescheduled. Originally, the trial was scheduled for Feb. 22, The Daily News previously reported.
Judge Henry's office explained there is not a set date and they are waiting for "things to clear up." They are hoping to start jury trials back up on March 1.
The DA's office has dealt with COVID-19 restrictions for just shy of a year. In June, the DA's office became backed up with trial cases but was able to make significant progress in moving non-jury trial cases either with plea deals or scheduling special sessions to alleviate the backlog.
In January, Chief District Court Judge Sarah Seaton announced all district court hearings in Onslow, Duplin, Jones and Sampson were postponed until Feb. 26.
When the DA announced the trial date in 2019, Lee added Onslow only has one superior court judge and adding another would help alleviate the backlog of thousands of cases and more than a dozen murder cases. Lee's office handles cases in Duplin, Jones, Onslow and Sampson counties as well as coordinating cases with other counties.
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