As Philly courts continue with emergency coronavirus hearings, the Defender Association bypasses one judge
The Defender Association of Philadelphia formally withdrew all cases that had been listed before Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle, following through on a pledge made Tuesday by Chief Defender Keir Bradford-Grey.
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Philadelphia’s court system on Wednesday continued to hold emergency hearings to determine which inmates should be let out of jail due to a coronavirus outbreak behind bars — but one judge’s calendar was suddenly empty.
The Defender Association of Philadelphia formally withdrew all cases listed before Common Pleas Court Judge Anne Marie Coyle, who earlier this week had rejected every inmate’s bid for release and even increased four detainees’ bail.
The maneuver was expected. Chief Defender Keir Bradford-Grey on Tuesday said in an email to judicial leadership that her office would seek to bypass Coyle because of the way the judge had handled the proceedings.
Still, Bradford-Grey struck a tone of optimism in a statement Wednesday, crediting the First Judicial District and the District Attorney’s Office for working to develop a process that has helped reduce the jail population by about 15% over the last month. She also noted that 60% of the motions her office filed Tuesday in front of judges other than Coyle — most of which sought bail reductions, early parole, or the lifting of probation detainers — had been granted.
Judges, prosecutors, and public defenders have been working since last week to review the cases of scores of potentially releasable inmates, including nonviolent offenders who had already completed their minimum sentences, and those being held on cash bail or low-level charges like drug possession, prostitution, and theft.
The aim has been to safely reduce the population in the city’s jails, where the coronavirus has been spreading five times as rapidly as the rest of the city. Officials on Tuesday announced the first inmate death related to the virus.
An Inquirer analysis published last year found that Coyle sentenced people who had violated probation to state prison at a higher rate than any other judge in Philadelphia.
On Wednesday, activists protested outside the Stout Center for Criminal Justice, chanting “free our people," honking the horns of their cars, and carrying a fake coffin that read “inaction is murder.”
Staff photographer Heather Khalifa contributed to this article.