977b Waiver of Court Appearance. If you have a criminal case pending in Los Angeles, do you have to appear in court or disobey the Governor's order regarding the coronavirus? This is a good question because the Governor's order now states that nobody can leave except for essential purposes, as I have mentioned in this content on the website. 

The bottom line is that if you've a criminal case pending and have been ordered to appear in court, it is a critical matter in the sense that it is recognized as an urgent need related to handling criminal matters. So, if you have a court appearance, you can appear without violating the Governor's order.

Now, there's another more important issue: whether you have to appear despite the Governor's order and risk contracting the Coronavirus by going to court, which many people do.  As I write this post, in most cases, an attorney can appear on your behalf, and often, they'll even allow the attorney to appear over the phone. Our Los Angeles criminal defense attorneys will explain further below.

If you have a felony, there is a 977b waiver, a written waiver that allows you to waive your appearance in court.  Your attorney can make representations to the judge that the attorney has told you what all of your rights are regarding your appearance and that you've decided not to go to court because of health concerns.

Once that waiver is filed, I would say just about all judges in Los Angeles County will accept it, especially given the Coronavirus outbreak. They also don't want people in the court, as they could potentially infect the prosecutors, court staff, bailiffs, and others.

So, right now, if it's handled the right way by an attorney who knows what they're doing, you should be able to avoid going to court again unless you and your attorney decide that it's in your best interest to go to court, or somehow you're ordered into court despite the Coronavirus going on.

So, if you've got a criminal case, you don't want to go to court. You want to get an attorney to defend you and decide whether you need to go to court.

Criminal Cases Continued for 60 to 90 Days

Many courts, as of April 2020, are continuing cases for 60 to 90 days to clear out the backlog while they wait for the coronavirus to subside and become less infectious.

I think that's going to cause an extensive backup in the courts.  Hopefully, that will work to the defendants' advantage in trying to resolve cases, making it more accessible and potentially avoiding jail time altogether. If you've a criminal case pending in Los Angeles County and need help, but don't want to go to court due to the Coronavirus, please pick up the phone and call me — Ron Hedding.  I've been doing this for 26 years.

Unfortunately, I'm going to court and dealing with numerous cases, so I'm well aware of the current state of affairs in the criminal courts. I will do everything possible to avoid taking you to court, at least for 60 to 90 days.

Obviously, to see what we can do to keep you out of jail moving forward and resolve your matter — whether it be a case that you're innocent of and you need to do a jury trial — which has also all been continued 60 to 90 days — or whether it's a case where they do have the evidence, but obviously, you want to do damage control to work out the best resolution possible.

So, the Coronavirus is real.  The courts are taking it seriously.  However, as they're criminal courts, none of the 38 courts have closed entirely, and they continue to handle business in a limited capacity. You need an attorney to guide you to achieve the best result and avoid having a bench warrant issued for your arrest.