1st LA criminal jury trial in 5 months to start Thursday

For the first time since March 17, a criminal jury trial was set to start in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Wednesday, but was postponed a day because of complications in transporting the defendant from the jail, a court spokeswoman said.

Sam O. Ohta, supervising judge at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, will instead try the felony hit and run case on Thursday with protocols such as masks, jurors called in batches and spread around the room, and an audio feed for the public in a nearby courtroom. People vs. Dylan Wyatt Chavez XNVPA093925-01 (L.A. Super. Ct., filed Dec. 13, 2019).

"The criminal trial did not go forward today due to a quarantine issue at the jail. The defendant was not able to be transported," Donlan said in an email. The sheriff's department explained later that the defendant's dorm was "temporarily placed under medical evaluation for quarantine status," but was cleared and the defendant also has not tested positive for Covid-19.

"The case is back on for trial tomorrow," Donlan said.

Wednesday's attempt at a trial marks progress in the court's efforts to return to some semblance of normalcy. "The court, along with our justice partners, have all agreed to begin jury trials in a gradual, phased approach in Los Angeles County," Donlan said. She noted that other courts have already resumed criminal jury trials and Orange County Superior Court has announced it will soon begin civil trials.

Last month, Los Angeles County Presiding Judge Kevin C. Brazile received approval from California Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye to issue new health protocols needed for judges to hear jury trials again in August.

Wednesday's scheduled trial was intended to help assess the mechanisms the court has put in place to resume criminal trials on a large scale, Donlan said.

"In anticipation of doing so, the court has developed protocols that will help ensure the health and safety of jurors, which include the mandate to wear masks, seats that are a minimum of six feet apart and batch reporting, wherein small groups of prospective jurors are summoned directly to the courtroom, rather than to the Jury Assembly Room."

Donlan added, "Social distancing protocols will limit the number of people each courtroom will be able to accommodate and jurors will be seated in various areas, rather than exclusively in or adjacent to the jury box."