Under COVID-19 emergency extension orders, Court of Appeal decisions that would otherwise become final between mid-March and mid-May will have their finality period extended by 30 days.  (There’s no extension for decisions that are final immediately.)  This in turn extends the time to file petitions asking the Supreme Court to review the decisions because those petitions are due “within 10 days after the Court of Appeal decision is final in that court.”  (See here.)

But what if counsel doesn’t need an extension and wants to file their petition for review within the normal, un-extended time?  They can submit the petition within that time, and the Supreme Court will hold onto it and even request the Court of Appeal record right away, but counsel will probably have to wait a while for the Supreme Court to file the petition.

Take People v. Velasco, a randomly selected case.  The Second District Court of Appeal filed its opinion on March 5.  The decision was scheduled to become final on April 4, making the petition for review due April 14.  Counsel submitted a petition for review on April 8.  However, the Second District’s revised implementation order extended the opinion’s finality date by 30 days, to May 4, so the Supreme Court hasn’t filed the petition yet.

The Velasco docket shows the court “[r]eceived premature petition for review” on April 8 and notes, “Pursuant to the Second Appellate District Court’s Implementation Order dated April 9, 2020.”  The Supreme Court will probably file the petition on May 4 or 5.

Counsel wasn’t looking for a delay, but they got one nonetheless.