MOBILE, Ala. — Capital murder cases in Mobile County would not go to trial for at least six months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, District Attorney Ashley Rich said in November 2020.
The pause applied only to the county’s most serious prosecutions. Other criminal trials were set to continue, with extra security protocols in place inside the courthouse.
Jury trials in the county had only just resumed in September 2020 after a six-month shutdown triggered by the coronavirus outbreak, and the backlog left capital cases — which demand larger juries and more elaborate logistics than ordinary trials — waiting even longer for their day in court.