Trial delayed because of no-show jurors

By on Friday, May 30th, 2025 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories

HEPPNER โ€“ A woman was arrested for felony drug possession in 2019. Her case has still not come to trial. Morrow County District Attorney Justin Nelson said all of the witnesses were present as was the defendant. He added that those who think sheโ€™s trying to delay the trial are wrong.

โ€œMs. Hahn has had a felony charge over her for all of these years and she very passionately wants this case to go to jury trial,โ€ he said. โ€œShe does not want a bench trial. She doesnโ€™t want to waive the jury. She wants the jury trial, and that is her right.โ€

A trial was scheduled. A judge was ready to hear the case in the Sixth Circuit Court. The problem was of the 45 jurors summoned for duty, only about half answered the call. Of those who did appear, two admitted to bias regarding drug possession cases. One had a case pending against them brought by the Morrow County District Attorneyโ€™s Office.

That forced the trial date to be reset at the end of June, when jury selection will begin again. Nelson said he was disappointed that so many people failed to show.

โ€œIf youโ€™re on jury duty, itโ€™s your obligation to check in,โ€ he said. โ€œOne of the judges was looking at doing what we call โ€˜order to show causesโ€™ for potential contempt of court for jurors not coming in. I believe many of those jurors who did not show up will be forced to come back and explain to the court why they were not present. Frankly, saying โ€˜I forgot,โ€™ isnโ€™t going to work.โ€