County agencies seek remote court hearings
EL CENTRO — Even as Imperial County continues in-person meetings amid the emergence of the highly infectious omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, two county departments are asking the local Superior Court to conduct remote hearings as a safety measure.
The requests were made in letters this week from the District Attorney’s and Public Defender’s offices to Presiding Judge William D. Quan. Both offices reported outbreaks among their staffs that are affecting their abilities to operate.
“Despite resuming telecommuting for employees, limiting building access and operating with skeletal staffing levels, the Public Defender’s Office experienced a COVID-19 outbreak that is significantly impacting operations,” Assistant Public Defender Jason Gundel stated in Wednesday letter.
Gundel, who is overseeing the department while Public Defender Ben Salorio serves as interim county chief executive officer, also sent a letter on Monday.
Assistant District Attorney Heather Trapnell sent a letter Wednesday.
“The attorneys are the main problem. If we were fully staffed we would have 20. As you know, we have severe problems recruiting. Our current full staff of attorneys is 15, which is already too low for the work level,” she explained in an email to this newspaper.
“Today, we have 4 out for COVID, leaving us at just 11. Several of us who are still in the office were recently exposed to people who now have COVID. We are hoping nobody else gets sick because we are on the brink. We also have several more staff members including clerical, victim witness advocates and investigators out,” she added.
Explaining how the office is fulfilling its duties, Trapnell said, “We are just doing our best to cover everything. We don’t have any authority to cancel or change hearings. That’s why we are asking for the court to do something. For example, San Diego and Orange County both allow parties to appear remotely for criminal appearances. COVID-positive attorneys will be out for at least 10 days under county policy.”