Coronavirus: San Diego Prospective Jurors Told To Stay Home

SAN DIEGO, CA — The San Diego County Superior Court system advised prospective jurors not to report to jury duty this week due to the new coronavirus pandemic.

People summoned for jury duty between Monday and Thursday were asked not to report to their assigned courthouses, according to a statement released by the Superior Court. People currently assigned to a trial were asked to continue serving unless ordered otherwise by the trial judge.

Last week, the court announced that all civil trials would be postponed for a month in order to reduce the number of jurors, but said jurors could still be summoned for criminal trials. However, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced new guidelines on Sunday, recommending that gatherings of 50 people or more be canceled or postponed for at least eight weeks.

"While we had COVID-19 procedures in place to provide enough social distancing for summoned jurors in our jury services room, having a pool of 50 people will not provide us with enough people for fair trials," said Superior Court Presiding Judge Lorna Alksne.

People summoned to appear after Thursday were asked to monitor the court's website and Twitter page for updates.

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City News Service and Patch editor Kristina Houck contributed to this report.