The plaintiff brought a motion to strike the defendants’ jury notice on the basis of the pandemic-related delay that would result in bringing the matter to trial with a jury as compared to a judge-alone trial. The Court confirmed that the trial could proceed virtually at any time if it were heard by a judge-alone, and that it was unknown when a four week civil jury trial could be scheduled. Justice Roger granted the plaintiff’s motion and struck the jury notice, finding that the parties were ready for trial, and the uncertainty resulting from COVID-19 and associated jury trial delays threatened fair trial principles.
