San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin reportedly seeks to speed up processing of the backlog of cases by having grand juries indict—a secret process from which defendants are excluded in California—instead of bringing accused persons to trial via a direct filing—a process in which defendants and their attorneys participate in a preliminary hearing.

Effective immediately, all criminal jury trials in Humboldt Superior Court scheduled to start on or before January 19 are canceled and will be rescheduled.

Fresno County Superior Court is suspending new jury trials until January 8, while Tulare County has suspended them through the end of the year.

The Greater LA podcast speaks with Nikhil Ramnaney, an LA County public defender and president of the public defender union, about how COVID-19 is affecting public defenders, their clients, and prospects for justice being done under these conditions.