The presiding judge of Los Angeles County’s court system Thursday authorized a new set of emergency continuances in criminal cases, saying that it will help to safely expand the number of trials with courthouse capacities limited due to social distancing and necessary COVID-19 protocols.
“With the devastating COVID-19 holiday surge behind us and state and county officials gradually re-opening Los Angeles County, we are pleased to work with our justice partners to responsibly expand access to justice after more than a year since the pandemic’s onset,” Presiding Judge Eric C. Taylor said in a written statement released by the court Thursday night.
The court system is “deliberately and safely working its way back to resume more jury trials and access to justice to all in need,” the presiding judge said, noting that the court is working with its “justice partners” to prioritize which cases should proceed first.
The order allows for:
— the time within which a criminal trial must be held to be extended by up to 30 days in cases in which the statutory deadline would otherwise fall between March 27 and April 23;
— the time for a preliminary hearing following arraignment to be extended from 10 court days to no more than 30 court days;
— pretrial hearings in misdemeanor cases set between March 27 and April 23 for out-of-custody defendants to be extended by 90 calendar days unless statutorily required to be held sooner and the defendant does not consent to a continuance; and
— minors taken into custody pending dependency proceedings to be held up to seven days in cases when the deadline for release would otherwise fall on or between March 27 and April 23.
Face coverings are required to be worn by everyone inside the courthouses unless they can certify a medical exemption.
In a Jan. 15 announcement announcing the COVID-19 deaths of a Superior Court traffic clerk and a court interpreter, Taylor noted that the court was continuing to “implement extensive safety measures in all of our 38 courthouses” but that “none of us is immune to this plague on our nation.”