How Sonoma County’s partial court closure could affect you

A partial closure of the Sonoma County Superior Court because of the growing coronavirus pandemic has put all noncrucial court functions at a standstill for three weeks, raising concerns from attorneys and criminal justice experts about what effects an extended near-shutdown will have on the local judicial system.

The reduction of courthouse operations began Monday as Sonoma County’s Presiding Judge Bradford DeMeo and other court officials took the step to prevent additional community exposures to the respiratory virus. So far, nine people in Sonoma County are confirmed to be sick with COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

The decision to drastically curtail court operations and the county’s subsequent order to most residents to stay at home are the latest in a string of recent, prolonged disruptions to the legal system. The courts were similarly limited for nine days during the 2017 North Bay wildfires and again for four days last October when the Kincade fire and planned PG&E power shut-offs occurred at the same time, resulting in no access to the building, said Arlene Junior, the court’s executive officer.

Court officials and local attorneys highlighted the unusual circumstances surrounding the court’s most recent setback, one they called unprecedented in nature.

“With the fires and power outages, we knew an end would come and it was a shorter period of uncertainty followed by a greater period of recovery,” Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravitch said in an email. “Right now I feel like we have all fallen out of the plane and are hoping the parachutes open before we see the ground.”

The scaled-down operations have resulted in a total of about 580 cases going before judges in adult and juvenile court between Monday and Thursday, a fraction of the 3,000 combined cases the courthouses see on average on any given week, Junior said.

The court’s limited staff has caused the local judicial system to tighten its focus on misdemeanor and felony cases, including arraignments, for in-custody offenders housed across two in-county adult detention facilities and Sonoma County Juvenile Hall.

Criminal cases for defendants out of custody will be delayed for about a month and most civil cases will be rescheduled 30 to 60 days after their original court date.

Exceptions will be made for people seeking certain temporary emergency orders, including those that protect from home foreclosure, elder abuse and evictions. The court will still review domestic violence and civil restraining orders, too.

Members of the public, including relatives of defendants, will not have access to proceedings.

“The primary thing we were balancing was who was in the courthouse with people’s constitutional rights,” DeMeo said. “Right now ... if they’re in custody, they’re getting into court. Out of custody people, generally, they don’t have the same time concerns as in-custody people do.”

People with traffic tickets can still make payments online or drop off checks at a drop box at the Sonoma County Superior Court, though all traffic-related trials have been canceled and will be scheduled for a later date.

No new jury trials will start during the court’s modified operations and people scheduled to appear for jury duty during the partial closure will be asked to return at a later time. Only one case, which involves a Santa Rosa doctor who state prosecutors charged with second-degree murder in the death of four of his patients, was at the trial stage at the time of DeMeo’s order. The jury continued deliberations this week and were moved to a bigger room so they could practice social distancing guidelines during the deliberation process, DeMeo said.

“We got really lucky; this court has been extremely busy with trials since the (power shutoffs),” DeMeo said.

Napoleon Reyes, a Sonoma State University professor and criminal studies department chair, said he agreed with the court’s decision to close down most operations, though he said the subsequent delays are likely to exacerbate the county’s already overburdened and understaffed court system.

The ripple effect of the delays could mean defendants in criminal cases will have to wait longer to resolve their matters, adding stress to their situation.

Prolonged legal battles in civil cases can often be beneficial to defendants who hope the other side will come to the negotiation table, or people with more funds to pay for legal counsel, he added.

“The saying is justice delayed, justice denied,” Reyes said. “Even if they stay open with limited staffing, processing of cases is already affected.”

Martin Woods, a local criminal defense attorney with 36 years of experience, said two of his clients ran into hurdles this week while trying to get their driver’s license from the Department of Motor Vehicles because they weren’t able to get necessary paperwork from the court detailing the outcome of their respective cases.

He agreed with Reyes that cases will likely take longer to clear in the aftermath of the closure, and also worried about the potential for a large number of people to migrate away from county in the aftermath of the pandemic, some of whom could be victims or witnesses in criminal proceedings.

“Who knows where people are going because of this crisis?” Woods said.

Ravitch said one of her concerns was the impact the county’s order for most residents to stay home might have on people who live with violent partners or abusers and feel like they have no place to go.

Most of her staff was working remotely, with only a skeleton crew in the office to process reports and appear in court.

“My hope is that those who consider unlawful conduct choose a different path during this time,” Ravitch said. “But if crimes occur they will be investigated and we will prosecute.”

You can reach Staff Writer Nashelly Chavez at 707-521-5203 or nashelly.chavez@pressdemocrat.com.