Remote Court Appearances by Deputy District Attorneys Amid COVID-19 (Full Transcript)

Speaker 1: Deputy District Attorneys are now appearing in court remotely from their offices due to

Speaker 2: the COVID-19 pandemic. So our remote court appearances are something that we do through Microsoft Teams, and we usually have one or two DAs in our unit that handle all of those appearances, whether it be arraignments, readiness conferences, bail reviews, or even change of pleas.

Speaker 3: We appear as DAs, the defense attorney appears, the defendant appears, and the court appears. And the only difference is that we're not there physically. You still have to dress appropriately. You still have to be very well-versed in your case. You have to be very prepared to answer any arguments.

Speaker 1: The number of cases handled daily have been reduced drastically due to COVID-19 limitations.

Speaker 2: We're seeing five, six, seven cases per calendar session, morning versus afternoon. And frequently, those cases are from different units, and so we're not doing as many court appearances as we were before. On top of that, the court appearances that we do don't involve a lot of testimony. So there are a limited number of prelims that are going forward doing video conferencing for the testimony from the witnesses.

Speaker 3: In order to protect the victims and lay witnesses during these times, we do not want to expose them any more than what is necessary for them and their family and their livelihood.

Speaker 2: While she was driving on a suspended license from a recent drug DUI conviction.

Speaker 1: As jury trials remain on hold until further notice, the district attorney's office continues to work with all of its justice partners.

Speaker 3: Since COVID has occurred, we have truly been working the same amount that we've always been working before, issuing cases, evaluating cases, negotiating cases.

Speaker 2: And both sides of the defense bar, the prosecution, as well as in the judicial system, are trying to ensure that everybody gets an opportunity to be in court, to have their case heard, and to have their constitutional rights met.