U.S. District Court for the Central District of California seal. Courtesy photos

The Central District of California is extending its COVID-19-related ban on jury trials through Feb. 28, a judge said Tuesday.

"We're going to lose our Feb. 1 trial date, unfortunately," U.S. District Judge Cormac J. Carney told civil attorneys in his courtroom for a 1:30 p.m. status conference in a copyright lawsuit against rapper Cardi B, saying he'd heard the news about five minutes ago.

Carney said the judges on the Central District's executive committee voted to extend the suspension. The committee on Jan. 3 suspended trials through Jan. 24, with an announcement from the clerk's office citing "an alarming surge in COVID nationwide and in the Central District of California."

Meanwhile, the Northern District of California hasn't yet extended its suspension of trials, currently in place through Jan. 26.

Carney on Tuesday implored the civil attorneys to do more to object to trial suspensions, saying, "The civil bar has been, quite frankly, silent during all of this." While the Speedy Trial Act only governs criminal cases, Carney said civil attorneys could invoke the Seventh Amendment, which guarantees a right to a jury trial.

"Conducting a civil trial is so much easier than conducting a jury trial because you don't have to have as many people," Carney said. But "I haven't seen a big movement in the civil bar, quite frankly, about these delays and this backlog. It's unfortunate."

A. Barry Cappello of Cappello & Noel in Santa Barbara responded, "Well, you can understand why, can't you?"

Cappello, who with Lawrence J. Conlan represents the plaintiff who's suing Cardi B, said the bar is divided between plaintiffs and defense attorneys, and the defense "generally, generally, as a general rule, would rather not go to trial for a variety of reasons, particularly if insurance is involved."

"So the bar is divided," Cappello said.

Carney said the bar "may be divided, but the plaintiffs bar in the civil area is a very powerful lobby."

Cappello said the lobby is sometimes "so political."

Carney agreed.

"Sometimes, particularly in California, they're aligned with those that are more cautious," the judge said.

The judge said he'd try to reschedule the Feb. 1 trial before the end of the summer. Cappello winced.

"Do your best, please, your honor. This case has been around for so long," Cappello said. 

"Mr. Cappello, you're singing to the choir," Carney replied.

"We know your record in trying to get matters to trial during the pandemic, and we deeply appreciate it," Cappello said.

Cappello was referring to Carney's dismissal of four criminal cases under the Speedy Trial Act during he Central District's initial 14-month trial suspension from March 2020 to June 2021.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit overturned Carney's first dismissal in April, saying the judge dismissed the case not for lawful purposes but to try to force his bench colleagues to relent on their trial ban. The Ninth Circuit then on Jan. 6 rejected an en banc review request in a split vote that included two concurrences and a dissent. Federal defenders are planning to file a cert petition with the U.S. Supreme Court.

Along with the Cardi B case, dozens of other cases have been affected by Central District's new trial suspension, including a multi-defendant gang and RICO criminal case that was to begin trial this month before U.S. District Judge Andre Birotte.

Trial is scheduled to begin Feb. 22 before U.S. District Judge John Walter in a lawsuit Kobe Bryant's widow Vanessa Bryant brought against the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for illicit death scene photos taken and shared by deputies. And U.S. District Judge Josephine Staton has a trial scheduled Feb. 15 in a criminal case against a man charged in connection with a bombing at a spa that killed his ex-girlfriend. Staton told attorneys during a status conference in the case last week: "My goal is to make sure that we can have a jury trial on Feb. 15. I am going to do everything in my power" to make sure that happens.

Still, Staton warned the suspension could be extended longer, and she mulled the possibility to having potential jurors come to court only to fill out questionnaires while the trial suspension is still in place.

Other judges are considering remote options for witnesses, including U.S. District Judge David O. Carter, who's ordered attorneys in a patent case to summarize the COVID-related needs for witnesses in a trial scheduled to begin Jan. 25. Before his colleagues suspended trials, Carter had moved the trial date to March, citing COVID precautions. After his colleagues suspended trials through Jan. 24, Carter rescheduled the trial for Jan. 25.