The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has closed its doors to the public and delayed all civil and criminal jury trials until further notice. The Courthouse is located at 350 W. 1st St. in downtown Los Angeles.
Although judges can offer bench trials for civil matters, no criminal jury trials will take place until “gating criteria” is met, according to Court Clerk, Kiry Gray, adding that the operational changes are in response to “the recent surge of COVID-19 cases in the District.”
The court will decide civil cases telephonically or by video conference, and with defendants’ consent, criminal cases will also proceed remotely. Criminal matters that do proceed in-person will have a limit of 10 people present in the courtroom at a time.
Criminal bench duty will continue to take place virtually in the Roybal Courthouse in Los Angeles and Santa Ana Courthouse, or in-person if defendants do not consent, the notice states.
