Judges in Houston who are allegedly still requiring lawyers and defendants to make in-person court appearances amid the COVID-19 outbreak have found a new critic.

The Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association, which counts 700 members, demanded that criminal judges stop forcing in-person appearances from defendants and their attorneys. It claimed the same courts have been allowing prosecutors to appear by video conference.

"This is a reality down at the courthouse and the risk is very real," said Neal Davis, the association's president. "We are very concerned about our members' health, and the health of the defendants, and everyone else in the city."

The association has joined the push against judges forcing in-person appearances a week after former Texas Court of Criminal Appeals Judge Elsa Alcala slammed three specific Harris County district judges for their practices.

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Read more: Ex-Judge Slams Houston Criminal Judges for Forcing In-Person Appearances Amid COVID-19 Spread

One of them, Judge Hazel Jones of the 174th Criminal District Court, said she's open to listening to constructive criticism, and changing her practices, because she wants to do what is in the best interests of Harris County citizens.

Jones noted that her court is increasingly using video and teleconferences to do court business. She's reset most bond cases, and now conducts only first hearings for defendants who just bonded out of jail, and plea hearings for incarcerated defendants.

"Nobody has dealt with this before," Jones said. "It's a fluid situation. We don't have all the right answers. And yes, it does take people to say, 'Hey, maybe you should do it another way.' That's fine."

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Risky situation

In a letter on Monday, the Harris County Criminal Lawyers Association argued that in addition to endangering people's lives, some judges are creating an appearance of impropriety. They claim that when judges allow prosecutors to appear electronically, but require the defense to appear in person, this creates a threat to key legal principles requiring the court to treat all parties equally.

The letter went to 22 criminal district judges and 16 criminal county court-at-law judges in Harris County. The association noted that most criminal judges are not requiring defendants on bond to make appearances. The courts are automatically resetting cases. The association applauded those judges and their court coordinators. The remaining courts should follow them, the letter said.

"More than ten inmates per court are still being brought unnecessarily to the courthouse every day the courts operate. Defense counsel must meet with inmates in the courtroom holding cells, needlessly and recklessly exposing these lawyers to the risk of COVID-19," said the letter, which added that social distancing is impossible. "When defense lawyers or defendants leave the holding area and enter the courtroom, they expose the judge, court staff and deputies. Large groups of defendants and counsel are left for hours in the hallways."

Judge Randy Roll of the 179th Criminal District Court, who received the association's letter, wrote in an email that he agrees wholeheartedly. If prosecutors can appear by Zoom, so should defense counsel, he wrote. Roll added that he's handling business by telephone, too.

He said, "My policy is we do not need defendants coming in to the courtroom on bond or standing in the hall mingling with those others in the hall."