With only one jury trial date left in 2025 for Greene County, the County Attorney’s Office has seen a unique year so far.

County Attorney Thomas Laehn says they are allocated ten jury trial dates per year, which means of the average 250 criminal cases their office handles annually, a majority of them must be resolved through a plea agreement. However, Laehn’s office has taken the stance of always being prepared to take any criminal case to jury trial 

“If we don’t have that reputation of being willing to take any case to trial, then the defendant has all the leverage during plea negotiations. That is in the interest of justice that is in the interest of public safety, because otherwise people could commit lesser crimes with impunity, knowing that they can exact concessions during plea negotiations.”

Laehn points out that this year, there were two mistrials for separate criminal cases, of which it took each case one jury trial each to ultimately get a guilty verdict from the jury. He explains that due to the two mistrials, two additional special jury trials were granted by the court. Laehn notes that two more jury trials went unused because the defendants that were slated for those trials demanded a speedy trial, which means the trial must happen within 90 days of the trial information being filed, but on the night before jury selection, those individuals waived that right.

“It’s very, very rare, in my experience, for a defendant to demand speedy trial and then actually carry through with it. It is often the case that as that trial date approaches, they decide it’s in their interest either to take a plea deal or to reschedule the trial so their attorney has more time to prepare.” 

Yet despite those situations of some trials not happening, Laehn adds that his office has been successful this year and last year winning every criminal case that has gone to trial. The final jury trial of 2025 is slated for December.