Northern District trials postponed until October

All Northern District of California jury trials are postponed until October, Chief Judge Phyllis J. Hamilton ordered, citing guidance from public health agencies following a spike in reported coronavirus cases.

"The administration of justice and the safety of the public are of the utmost importance to the Judges of the Northern District of California, who will continue to balance these interests as needed during this continually evolving public health emergency," a court spokesperson said in a statement.

According to the Thursday order, criminal in-court proceedings, including plea and sentencing hearings, must be limited to 10 people. It applies to all of the district's courthouses in San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Eureka-McKinleyville.

In a separate order posted July 20, the district suspended all in-court appearances for defendants in custody from any detention center until Aug. 10 after being notified of an increase in COVID-19 cases at Santa Rita Jail.

Since pausing in-court hearings, Northern District judges have largely conducted proceedings for civil and criminal cases via telephone or video conference. The court posts links to Zoom video feeds and call-in phone numbers for public access. Attorneys must register with judges if they plan to participate in the hearing.

The update to court operations comes amid concerns the district cannot adequately safeguard staff and jurors from the virus by ensuring state-mandated social distancing of at least 6 feet and limiting in-person contact indoors.

The court briefly allowed criminal jury trials to resume in July after halting them in March.

In the first trial to reopen, a federal jury on July 10 convicted Russian national Yevgeniy Nikulin of hacking LinkedIn, Dropbox and Formspring in 2012 to steal and sell the login credentials of more than 100 million user accounts. It deliberated for five hours before delivering a verdict.

The trial had instituted heightened COVID-19 precautions, including changes in juror and attorney seating to allow for social distancing, a modified ventilation system that pumped fresh air into the courtroom and a mandate that attorneys wear court-provided face shields.

U.S. District Judge William Alsup urged both sides in the case to explore ways to proceed with the trial after jurors indicated in April and again in June that they would feel unsafe at the San Francisco courthouse, raising the specter of a mistrial. Both sides agreed to go down to as few as six jurors, if necessary, in order to proceed.

Defense attorney Adam Gasner said it was a "gut-wrenching decision" that he agreed to because his client had been in pretrial detention for nearly four years.

Of 16 people in the jury pool, Alsup dismissed four for health-related hardships before trial resumed. He denied requests from two others. USA v. Nikulin, 16-CR-00440 (N.D. Cal., filed Oct. 20, 2016).

At the state court, counties have mostly resumed jury trials after the 60-day suspension ordered by the Judicial Council expired on May 25. The trial of David Brown, charged with burglary, in San Francisco Superior Court began on Monday with jury selection.

But on the same day, San Mateo County Superior Court halted jury trials for 30 days due to concerns jurors were exposed to a person at the courthouse who tested positive for the virus.