SAN ANTONIO — The coronavirus pandemic is not slowing down the wheels of justice.
“Out of the necessity of the COVID19 environment, we had to improve the way we do business,” said Bexar County District Attorney Joe Gonzales.
On Wednesday, a murder sentence was handed down through a Zoom meeting, a first for Bexar County.
The 187th Criminal Court Judge Stephanie Boyd sentenced Montrail Butler to two 40-year concurrent sentences for killing Stephanie Woodford.
Butler was convicted of the murder that happened in March of 2017 where Woodford was found shot to death in a home off Teasdale Drive.
“It's important for the victims of crime to get some closure, especially in a case where you have a murderer, you have survivors. They want some closure in their lives. They want to know that the person that caused the murder, as in this case, is punished,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales said due to the risk of the Coronavirus, a district judge prohibited in-person hearings, but Boyd wanted to move forward with Butler’s sentencing, so she found an alternative way to do it.
“You know the old saying, ‘justice delayed is justice denied,’ and it's important for both sides to get some resolution,” said Gonzales.
Gonzales acknowledges changing venues from a courtroom to a digital platform could have some challenges.
In Butler’s sentence hearing, a fingerprint expert had been called forward to identify the defendant and had trouble doing so at first because Butler was wearing a mask at the time.
“There was another glitch that's unique to the situation,” said Gonzales. “There was a challenge about, well, how do you know that the person that you went over there and fingerprinted and had a mask on is the same individual that's in the courtroom today.”
Gonzales said the proceeding went forward though, Butler’s attorney was able to question the witness and the judge felt satisfied that the witness was convincing.
Another issue posed today when Woodford’s mother delivered the Victim Impact statement. For some unknown reason, she couldn’t connect with a camera, and Butler could not see her when she read her statement.
“You want to be able to look at the at the person that committed this crime against your family member, and look them squarely in the eye and say, ‘you did this to my son or daughter, and I want you to hear what I've got to say and I want you to see me,’” said Gonzales. “Well, that was lost today.”
Gonzales also said holding the court proceedings on a digital platform has benefits like moving the cases through the system, and providing closure to victims of violent crimes and their families.
But despite the glitches on Wednesday, Gonzales said Zoom court proceedings may be happening more in the future.
“We're doing everything we can to keep everyone safe and to make sure the wheels of justice keep turning,” said Gonzales.