SAN JOSE — Beginning this week, the Santa Clara County Superior Court is for the first time expanding the number and kinds of proceedings that will be heard since statewide COVID-19 emergency restrictions curtailed court activity to primarily criminal-justice proceedings involving public-safety matters.
Effective May 11, the Hall of Justice in North San Jose added limited court calendars for criminal pleas and motions, and scheduling for preliminary and special hearings. Drug treatment court proceedings and mental-health diversion hearings will be held once a week under the new rules.
Previously, the Hall of Justice was hearing mostly criminal arraignments for jailed defendants and family-violence cases. The new changes could mean some relief for in-custody defendants who were scheduled to consider or enter pleas to their charges but were relegated to staying in jail when their court dates were postponed for weeks after Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency due to the novel coronavirus in early March. That was followed Santa Clara County and other Bay Area counties instituting a shelter-in-place order March 17.
The Family Justice Center in downtown San Jose had been on similar public-safety restrictions since March 17, limited to hearings involving domestic-violence restraining orders, juvenile dependency detentions and mental-health emergency reviews. Startng this week, the courthouse will hear domestic-violence restraining order matters involving children, emergency custody hearings, “and other urgent matters,” according to the court.
On the civil court side, starting May 18, the Downtown Superior courthouse will increase its activity beyond temporary and civil restraining orders, mental-health conservatorships and elder-abuse matters to include a slew of additional hearings. Those will include having limited calendars for civil law and complex civil law cases, probate estate matters, and some appellate oral arguments.
The changes are within an emergency framework by the statewide court rule-making body, the Judicial Council. The council has delayed speedy trial and arraignment deadlines, extended jury trial deadlines up to 90 days, set bail to $0 for misdemeanor and low-level felony charges, and suspended eviction and foreclosure judgments.
The moves were meant to decrease court activity as well as slow the influx into county jails. The council also endorsed the rapid adoption of video and teleconferencing to stand in for many in-person court appearances.
Prospective jurors scheduled to report to court through June 1, when the court aims to resume trials, are excused. Only one criminal trial in which a jury had already been impaneled, a murder case with death-penalty implications, is planned to begin before then.
But June 1 might be too soon for some attorneys who have had to conduct court business during the pandemic. A Santa Clara County criminal-defense attorney, who asked not to be named out of privacy and retaliation concerns, said it’s a common sight for everyone from bailiffs, attorneys, and court officers to be seen not wearing face masks or consistently social distancing.
“Attorneys are lowering their masks to talk to each other, which is absolutely the number-one way to spread droplets to contaminate people,” the attorney said. “If we continue to do this, as things re-open and there is a wider spread of asymptomatic people, we’re going to see judges and more and more lawyers getting COVID.”
Court spokesperson Benjamin Rada said judicial officials are working to make sure the court is operating safely as it moves toward resuming in a fuller capacity.
“Presiding Judge Deborah Ryan has been in consultation with the Department of Public Health to ensure we have the highest levels of safety and sanitization for any jurors or prospective jurors coming back into our courthouse facilities,” Rada said. “It’s one of our major concerns.”
More information about Santa Clara County Superior Court availability, and for information about online alternatives to many court services, can be found at www.scscourt.org/general_info/news_media/covid19.shtml.
