-->

Courts, district attorneys weigh in on California’s statewide suspension of jury trials

The state’s chief justice has announced a 60-day suspension of jury trials, as local officials work to address key court functions in the midst of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye in her late-Monday order indicated that the new guidelines are meant to protect those involved in court proceedings from the spread of the coronavirus.

“Courts cannot comply with these health restrictions and continue to operate as they have in the past,” Cantil-Sakauye wrote. “Many court facilities in California are ill-equipped to effectively allow the social distancing and other public health requirements required to protect people involved in court proceedings and prevent the further spread of COVID-19.”

The exact impact of the new order is unclear. Most Superior Court officials, including those in Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Los Angeles counties, have already instituted suspension of jury trials in their jurisdictions.

The order also gives local judges the power to “conduct a trial at an earlier date upon finding of good cause shown or through use of remote technology when appropriate.”

Los Angeles County District Attorney Jackie Lacey said the order does give Superior Court judges the leeway to conduct a trial during the 60-day period, if they believe it is absolutely necessary. She gave the potential examples of a trial where a witness would not be available later, or a case that was in danger of being dismissed due to impending deadlines.

For court officials, much of the focus in recent days has been on finding technological solutions to avoid having the numerous parties to a hearing in the same place at the same time. While jury trials have been suspended, other key court hearings have time requirements such as arraignments, where defendants are informed of the charges they are facing and asked to enter a plea, and preliminary hearings, where a judge decides if there is enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial.

Lacey said her office is working on a system that would allow virtual court proceedings where a judge, attorneys, defendants and other court staffers could be piped in from their respective safe locations. Prosecutors in neighboring Orange County, Riverside and San Bernardino counties have reported working on similar efforts to hold court hearings over video conference.

“Social distancing (in the courts) has not been perfect, but its not in the outside world either,” Lacey said of the courts efforts so far. “This is where I think all of us could do a lot more to enforce social distancing and shelter in place, but let essential services continue to take place.”

Some court officials indicated that the new order from the state Supreme Court chief justice will give them additional time to deal with the impact of the coronavirus, but will not alter their current strategy

“None of what the Chief did last night changes anything that we are doing. We applied for an extension yesterday,” San Bernardino County Superior Court Presiding Judge Michael Sachs said on Tuesday morning, referring to his court’s previous plan to reschedule all criminal and civil trials that were set to begin between March 17 and April 2.

Riverside court officials said they were already continuing jury trials, but the new order allows them to push them farther out.

“We were intending to request an extension, so we no longer need to request an extension for jury trials,” said Riverside County Superior Court Presiding Judge John Vineyard.

The court disruption due to the coronavirus put some high-profile local trials on hold.

In Orange County, the trial of Lonnie Kocontes, a former attorney accused of strangling one of his ex-wives and throwing her body off an Italian cruise ship, was suspended until April 6. In Los Angeles County, the murder trial of Robert Durst, a multimillionaire accused of killing a friend to stop her from incriminating him in the disappearance of his wife, was also suspended.

“We are evaluating how this emergency event will affect and impact each case,” said Kostas Kalaitzidis, an Orange County Superior Court spokesman. “Decisions on specific cases will be decided by each judge presiding over that case.”

If local courthouses remained closed into next month, judges presiding over ongoing criminal trials would need to decide on whether to extend a suspension of the trials or to declare mistrials and plan to start again once the courts re-open with new juries.

Earlier this month, an emergency order from the state Supreme Court justice allowed the various Superior Court systems across the state to close facilities until at least March 30.

After a partial opening of the Orange County court system led to an outcry from prosecutors and the public defenders office, the courthouses have largely remained closed this week. A small number of hearings, primarily time-sensitive preliminary hearings where a judge decides if there is enough evidence for a case to proceed to trial, have been held at the Santa Ana courthouse this week.

Both Riverside and San Bernardino county courts have closed some courthouses and consolidated essential business to a few courthouses that handle emergency services and arraignments.

“There will be some delays in cases, however, all cases are under constant review to ensure we are meeting the Chief Justice’s order,” said Michael Bires, spokesman for the San Bernardino County District Attorneys office.

In Los Angeles, court operations have been scaled back to focus solely on “emergency and essential matters,” with only direct participants for the hearings allowed in the facilities.

The orders from California’s chief justice does not cover federal courts. Federal courts in the area instituted their own suspension of jury trials until at least April 13.



from News: Redlands Daily Facts https://ift.tt/2WJ4boW