Tani Cantil-Sakauye, Chief Justice of California. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye issued a new statewide order Wednesday that could delay some criminal trials until as late as mid-September.

The order tacks on an additional 30 days to the chief justice's March 23 order, which suspended jury trials in California for 60 days. The new directive does not address civil proceedings.

The extension is not a mandate. It allows delays but encourages lawyers to work together to proceed with criminal trials at a sooner date "if a court may do so in compliance with applicable health and safety laws, regulations, and orders, including through the use of remote technology, when appropriate."

Wednesday's order is the third statewide directive issued by the chief justice in the last four weeks as courts grapple with the impacts of the novel coronavirus. It comes as additional trial courts eye partial reopenings in the coming weeks and leaders fear a tidal wave of restarted proceedings.

"The continuous operation of our courts is essential for our constitutional form of government, and for providing due process and protecting the public," the order said. "However, courts are clearly places of high risk during this pandemic because they require gatherings of judicial officers, court staff, litigants, attorneys, witnesses, defendants, law enforcement, and juries—well in excess of the numbers allowed for gathering under current executive and health orders."

The chief justice's order applies to criminal trials that started and were continued or were scheduled to start between March 16 and June 15. That means a trial that was statutorily required to start by June 15 can now be delayed until Sept. 13.

The order allows leaders of trial courts to ask for additional deadline extensions but only if they provide the specific facts in play and explain the steps they're taking to avoid additional delays.

Courts around the state have taken different approaches to conducting essential services during the pandemic. Cantil-Sakauye has signed more than 130 emergency orders for individual trial courts and courts of appeal authorizing everything from extensions of statutory deadlines to holding proceedings in remote locations.

Some courts have announced plans to resume normal operations in the coming weeks. Others are closed indefinitely or are sharply curtailing proceedings. El Dorado County Superior Court announced Tuesday that it is vacating all civil trials scheduled for the year "because it is anticipated that there will be a large volume of criminal trials which will have statutory priority."

Some courts are livestreaming hearings and requiring court visitors to wear face coverings. Others are not.