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The spread of the coronavirus and COVID-19 might delay Lori Loughlin’s trial in the college admissions scandal, a legal expert recently told Fox News.
- Lori Loughlin and her husband, Mossimo Giannulli, are accused of paying $500,000 in bribes so that their daughters, Olivia Jade and Isabella Rose Giannulli, would be crew team recruits for the University of Southern California. The couple pleaded not guilty to all charges. The trail is set for October. The couple is set for a status conference on May 2.
What’s going on:
- The coronavirus outbreak continues to spread across the work, leading to more than 4,000 cases in the United States alone. The U.S. has called for citizens to practice “social distancing — meaning that people should stay home and away from people.
- City and state governments have called for major events to be canceled. States such as California, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts and Washington have already closed bars and restaurants, too, according to USA Today.
- Courts, however, continue to move at the same pace. But that could change.
How the coronavirus could impact Loughlin
- Harry Nelson, managing partner of Los Angeles-based health care law firm Nelson Hardiman, told Fox News that the courts are worried about what they’re going to do since there’s been no update on how courts should respond to the coronavirus.
- Nelson told Fox News citizens who need to attend court could be infected with the coronavirus since there’s no closures there.
- Nelson: “We are moving into uncharted territory with COVID-19. From high-profile cases like Lori Loughlin’s to the everyday criminal, civil, family court matters, this is a new world. Lawyers, court clerks, jurors see themselves as sitting ducks until we close down the courts.”
- Nelson told Fox News a delay would help Loughlin: “The backlash from closing the courts is going to be terrible. People may take liberties because they can’t be held accountable by the other side racing into court. There is going to backlog for a long time to come. COVID-19 is wreaking havoc on our judicial system.”