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Extracted Text (OCR)
Caseel217 /ot00 2etauent Dodi mdl BAG62 Filst66206/Phg Pye F 6HD6
Light of the Coronavirus Outbreak, 20-MC-00004-9 (D.N.M. Mar. 13, 2020) (Johnson, C.J.).
Almost a full year later, jury trials remain suspended in the District of New Mexico. See Jn the
Matter of: Superseding Administrative Order 20-MC-00004-49, 21-MC-00004-04 (D.N.M. Jan.
15, 2021) (Johnson, C.J.) (continuing the suspension of all civil and criminal jury trials through at
least February 28, 2021).
In the intervening 11 months, Mr. Robertson has remained in custody. During that time
period, the Court set and then continued several trial dates due to the pandemic, including dates in
December 2020 and February 2021. See, e.g., Doc. 271. Mr. Robertson’s trial will now be reset
for April 5, 2021, and the Court is hopeful that he will finally get his day in court after the extreme
and unprecedented delay he has endured. Complicating matters, however, is the fact that the
pandemic and the resulting passage of time has led to a recent and significant change in Mr.
Robertson’s defense team: both of his original attorneys withdrew from the case in January of this
year. Doc. 295. As a result, the attorneys with which he will be going to trial in two months were
appointed in September 2020 and January 2021. Docs. 197 and 293. Although the Court would
not have granted the appointments if it were not sure that Mr. Robertson’s new attorneys would be
ready for trial this April, they nevertheless face the daunting task of earning their client’s trust,
preparing for trial, and reviewing three years’ worth of litigation in a matter of months.
Mr. Robertson first asked the Court to consider his release in July of last year. Doc. 181.
He argued that his continued pretrial detention posed a risk to his health because his compromised
immune system makes him especially vulnerable to serious illness or death from COVID-19. Id.
at 5. He also argued that there were conditions of release that would satisfy the requirements of
the Bail Reform Act, including the designation of his father as a third-party custodian. /d. at 9-
10. The Court took up the motion at a status conference held on September 11, 2020. It explained
DOJ-OGR-00001293
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Document Details
| Filename | DOJ-OGR-00001293.jpg |
| File Size | 750.0 KB |
| OCR Confidence | 93.6% |
| Has Readable Text | Yes |
| Text Length | 2,216 characters |
| Indexed | 2026-02-03 16:11:06.666395 |