U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California (Photo: Jason Doiy/ALM)

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California has closed all courthouses to the public and suspended civil and criminal trials until May 1.

The court issued two general orders Monday signed by Chief Judge Phyllis Hamilton on the same day six Bay Area counties demanded residents "shelter in place" to slow the spread of coronavirus.

Hamilton's orders also said the court will decide civil matters on the papers and conduct any necessary hearings via telephone or video conference.

Although criminal proceedings before magistrate judges are set to continue, the court also plans to conduct those hearings remotely when possible, the orders note. Criminal hearings will also be consolidated and cases in all four Northern District divisions will be heard in San Francisco.

"Due to the Court's reduced ability to obtain an adequate spectrum of jurors and the effect of the above public health recommendations on the availability of counsel and court staff to be present in the courtroom, the time period of the continuances implemented by this General Order will be excluded under the Speedy Trial Act, as the Court specifically finds that the ends of justice served by ordering the continuances outweigh the interest of the public and any defendant's right to a speedy trial pursuant to 18 U.S.C. section 3161(h)(7)(A)," Hamilton wrote.

Also on Monday, a criminal trial already underway in the San Francisco courthouse was affected by the public health crisis. Lawyers for Yevgeniy Aleksandrovich Nikulin, a Russian facing criminal trial on charges that he hacked into computers belonging to tech companies, including LinkedIn and Dropbox, filed court papers asking for a 30-day continuance in the trial. Nikulin's lawyers noted that a Secret Service agent set to be called as a witness for the prosecution had indicated that he had possibly been exposed to the coronavirus through travel and contact with a person exhibiting symptoms. U.S. District Judge William Alsup, who is overseeing the proceedings, issued an order suspending the trial for two days, subject to further continuances. The judge also asked jurors about any hardships they might have if the trial were to continue later in the week or after the local shelter in place directive, currently set to run through April 7, is lifted. Federal prosecutors wrote a brief exploring the possibility of midtrial continuance or mistrial without taking a position on Nikulin's lawyers' request.

Nikulin's lawyer, Valery Nechay, in an email to Courthouse News Service, called the situation "unchartered territory" and said the defense team is evaluating steps "every day, and sometimes every hour," as more information becomes available.

"We are very concerned about our client Mr. Nikulin, as well as the thousands of other non-violent pretrial detainees that are languishing in custody for undetermined periods of time as a result of this pandemic, and residual court closures and suspensions of due process."