Jury trials have been suspended for the next 30 days starting on Monday over public safety concerns due to COVID-19, the San Mateo County Superior Court said on Thursday.
Jonathan Karesh, presiding judge of the San Mateo County Superior Court, decided to delay court dates because of the recent surge in COVID-19 cases and the subsequent safety concerns. Karesh wanted to reduce the risk of exposing jurors and employees to COVID-19. He weighed the balance of providing an essential public service and protecting people from risk through jury trials. Around 1,000 people show up for consideration for jury duty in a week, and he wanted to try and reduce that risk.
“We’re doing what we can for public safety in these unprecedented times,” Karesh said.
All criminal and civil jury trials are suspended through Jan. 8 for defendants whose trial statutory deadline expires from Dec. 14 to Jan. 13. The decision does not apply to trials currently in session and only applies to trials that have yet to start. The suspension also includes civil court trials through Dec. 31, except for unlawful detainer court trials. All mental health conservatorship trials for overseeing medical treatment for adults are suspended through Jan. 8. Family law or juvenile cases will continue.
Karesh said around 21 cases would be affected because the defendants have not waived their right to a speedy trial, set to take place over the next month. Nine of those cases involve felonies, and 12 involve misdemeanors. Karesh did not know if there would be jury trial suspensions beyond the Jan. 8 date due to the changing nature of COVID-19 restrictions. Judge Leland Davis III will be taking over decision-making on suspending jury trials for Karesh in January. He would make any decisions on any further extensions or delays.
“We just don’t know at this point,” Karesh said.
San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said the suspension of jury trials would mean fewer cases for the District Attorney’s Office. However, it increases its backlog on jury trial cases in the future. The District Attorney’s Office is working on its backlog after the courts closed during the summer due to COVID-19. It will likely have a backlog in the system until next year.
“That’s something we will all be dealing with in 2021 and into 2022,” Wagstaffe said.
The backlog of cases won’t be as bad as it was during the summer because not many trials occur during the last two weeks of December, although the first two weeks of January are ordinarily busy.
“This is only four weeks; this isn’t four months,” Wagstaffe said.
The suspension of jury trials means some people in the District Attorney’s Office will also start teleworking from home. Wagstaffe’s staff has been back since Sept. 30, and decisions on who will work from home will be on Monday. Wagstaffe said the opportunity to work from home would have been impossible five years ago. The District Attorney’s Office will now focus more attention on making decisions on whether to press charges on cases submitted by law enforcement.
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