[JURIST] A New Orleans judge said Tuesday that criminal trials in New Orleans could resume by March when the courts will try to deal with the 3,000 trials [JURIST report] pending before Hurricane Katrina [JURIST news archive] swept through the city. The first post-Katrina grand jury may convene in February to hear the case [JURIST report] of some 40 patients who died at New Orleans' Memorial Medical Center [hospital website] in the days following the storm. Among the obstacles for those trying to begin work again are mold-covered evidence that sat in flood water for days and only two usable courtrooms in the federal court building. AP has more.