San Patricio County (KIII News) — The trial for Ray Rogers, a man charged with capital murder, has been delayed in San Patricio County -- all because there were not enough jurors to choose from.
The court now has to regroup and start the process all over again.
"They had to reset the jury trial to a later date," said Laura Miller, San Patricio County District Clerk.
It's not the kind of news any court administrator wants to hear, but Miller has now had to face that problem.
"The number of jurors that appeared, once qualifications and exemptions were considered, and excuses, the judge felt there were not enough jurors," Miller said.
One can only speculate why juror response has been so low, but officials said one of the culprits could turn out to be Hurricane Harvey.
"It's very possible that many of the individuals summoned for jury duty have been relocated or have been displaced," Miller said. "We just don't know if its a result of people being displaced because of the hurricane and working fully to move back into the area."
So what's the next step to solving the juror response shortage in San Patricio County?
"What we will be doing in the future is increasing the numbers that we call," Miller said. "Instead of 300, we'll begin in June, we'll be sending out 350 jury summons cards."
The capital murder trial of Ray Rogers has been reset for August.
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