The Los Angeles Superior Court has announced a 2-week extension of deadlines for certain Criminal cases and a 4-week extension for juvenile dependency proceedings, marking a measured shift in court operations to help the Court and its users recover from caseloads impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
On Thursday, the California Supreme Court granted the Superior Court of Los Angeles County’s application for relief which sought authority to extend Criminal deadlines by four (4) weeks with a plan to open trial courts more fully while retaining the flexibility to address the logjam of pending trials now before a limited number of trial courtrooms.
LASC Presiding Judge Taylor has elected to issue an initial order within this framework extending Criminal deadlines by two (2) weeks to provide notice to judicial officers, justice partners and the parties, and providing them an opportunity to plan and prepare for the work ahead.
Meanwhile, the Court will monitor courtroom capacity limits against trial demands, while carefully watching local COVID trends and Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LA DPH) advisories and orders.
Presiding Judge Taylor encouraged all court users to comply with public health mandates as Los Angeles County experiences a noticeable increase in reported COVID-19 cases that prompted the LADPH to issue more restrictive indoor mask policies for all persons, regardless of vaccination status.
For complete details, please go to https://sfvba.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/21-NR-July-19-GO-with-Order.pdf
