Jury trials were scheduled to resume in state court in Massachusetts on October 23. Amid a rise in confirmed cases of COVID-19 around the state, the earliest potential start date has been pushed back by the Supreme Judicial Court until November 9. Massachusetts ranks third in the nation in per capita deaths but has held its numbers down during the summer and fall.

Meanwhile, in Youngtown, Ohio, an attempt to hold a jury trial in a vehicular homicide case went off the road. Forty people were summoned for jury duty. One tested positive for COVID-19. Another had symptoms and was transported away for further testing. An additional seven members were already awaiting test results, which is enough to avoid jury service. With a quarter of the jury pool eliminated, a jury could not be selected. This would have been the fifth jury trial in Mahoning County since the courthouse reopened in July, but Ohio cases are heading in the wrong direction.