For the second week in a row, the Supreme Court uncharacteristically ruled on a petition for review on a Friday, a non-conference day. And, like last week’s decision, yesterday’s order signaled the court’s interest in having the Courts of Appeal opine about trial procedures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest order came in Wells Fargo Bank, National Association v. Superior Court. Saying that the superior court had “ordered the parties and their counsel to participate in a potential ‘super-spreader’ event,” the petition for review stated these issues:
1. During the current pandemic, may a trial court compel participation in a large in-person trial—with 20 or more persons in the courtroom—in a civil case in which there is no calendar preference and no exigency requiring an immediate trial?
2. If such a trial is permissible, may the trial court, in an effort to comply with social-distancing requirements, exclude from the courtroom parties to the litigation, in violation of Evidence Code section 777 and of the due process requirements of the state and federal constitutions?
Following the Fourth District, Division One, Court of Appeal’s summarily denial of a writ petition, the Supreme Court granted review and transferred the case back to the appellate court with directions to issue an order to show cause why relief should not be granted. The Supreme Court also kept in place a stay of trial proceedings it had issued three days after the petition for review was filed.
On 9/9/20 the Supreme Court granted a Petition for Review that I filed that involved another Covid-19 matter – whether a trial court can find a court observer in “direct contempt via Zoom.” This was case S263594 – Rollins v. Superior Court. The appellate court (First District) had summarily denied our writ petition. The Supreme Court vacated that denial and instructed the appellate court to issue an OSC to the trial court to show cause why the writ should not be granted. This has now been fully brief in the appellate court and we are awaiting oral argument. The case raises interesting issues about due process, expectations of privacy in one’s home, and whether when parties attend court hearings by video their homes “become the courtroom” as the trial court submits.