The West Chester man accused of murdering four family members will not stand trial in May, as planned.The coronavirus pandemic has caused the capital murder trial to get pushed back to October.Gurpreet Singh is accused of murdering his wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, and her parents, Hakiakat Singh Pannag and Parmjit Kaur. Shalinderjit Kaur's aunt, Amarjit Kaur, was also killed inside a West Chester apartment in April 2019.The trial would require selecting 12 jurors and a handful of alternates."I just don't see us being able to get 16 people to sit with us for three weeks, away from their families, sitting next to strangers," said Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Howard. "Further complicated by the fact, if we are able to do that, what happens if in the middle of trial, a juror says, 'I'm not feeling well. I've lost my sense of taste and smell,' and we have to quarantine everybody."Howard said in other cases, jurors have expressed concerns with coming into a courtroom during a pandemic, even with safety protocols in place.Since the rollout of the vaccines isn't going as quickly as people hoped, he said it might be better to move the trial date.Neither prosecutors and defense attorneys objected to postponing Singh's trial."We echo the same concerns where if we have a juror or a family member of a juror or one of the litigants get sick or contract COVID, what would happen to the trial?" said assistant prosecutor Josh Muennich. Defense attorney Neal Schuett said, "We too don't want some mistrial or to get halfway through and have to take a break and all quarantine." Singh maintains his innocence. He is now scheduled to stand trial on four counts of aggravated murder on Oct. 18.This is the second time the trial was delayed because of the pandemic.It was originally scheduled for last September.Family members of the victims previously told WLWT, they didn't like the delays but have confidence in the American justice system.
The West Chester man accused of murdering four family members will not stand trial in May, as planned.
The coronavirus pandemic has caused the capital murder trial to get pushed back to October.
Gurpreet Singh is accused of murdering his wife, Shalinderjit Kaur, and her parents, Hakiakat Singh Pannag and Parmjit Kaur. Shalinderjit Kaur's aunt, Amarjit Kaur, was also killed inside a West Chester apartment in April 2019.
The trial would require selecting 12 jurors and a handful of alternates.
"I just don't see us being able to get 16 people to sit with us for three weeks, away from their families, sitting next to strangers," said Butler County Common Pleas Judge Greg Howard. "Further complicated by the fact, if we are able to do that, what happens if in the middle of trial, a juror says, 'I'm not feeling well. I've lost my sense of taste and smell,' and we have to quarantine everybody."
Howard said in other cases, jurors have expressed concerns with coming into a courtroom during a pandemic, even with safety protocols in place.
Since the rollout of the vaccines isn't going as quickly as people hoped, he said it might be better to move the trial date.
Neither prosecutors and defense attorneys objected to postponing Singh's trial.
"We echo the same concerns where if we have a juror or a family member of a juror or one of the litigants get sick or contract COVID, what would happen to the trial?" said assistant prosecutor Josh Muennich.
Defense attorney Neal Schuett said, "We too don't want some mistrial or to get halfway through and have to take a break and all quarantine."
Singh maintains his innocence. He is now scheduled to stand trial on four counts of aggravated murder on Oct. 18.
This is the second time the trial was delayed because of the pandemic.
It was originally scheduled for last September.
Family members of the victims previously told WLWT, they didn't like the delays but have confidence in the American justice system.
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