Siskiyou — Standing Order re Remote Court Reporting for Crim GJ Proceedings

Source: https://www.siskiyou.courts.ca.gov/system/files/general/standing-order-re-remote-court-reporting-crim-gj-proceedings.pdf

FILED 0F caufornia OOUNTY OF SISKIYOU I YREKA BRANCH AUG 1 2 2021 2 BY; 3 deputy CLERK 4

5 IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA 6 IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF SISKIYOU

7

8 IN RE GRAND JURY OF SISKIYOU COUNTY, ) GENERAL STANDING ) ORDER FOR REMOTE 9 ) REPORTING OF CRIMINAL 10 GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS ] ) 11 ) ) 12 I 13 GENERAL ORDER REGARDING THE REMOTE REPORTING OF GRAND JURY PROCEEDINGS 14

15 WHEREAS a Grand Jury is a constitutional fixture in its own right and governed under 16 the statutory scheme of California Penal Code section 888 et seq. (United States v. Williams 17 (1992) 504 U.S. 36, 47);

18 WHEREAS the Grand Jury is subject to the limited general supervision and charge of the 19 Court by which it is convened (In re Gannon (1886) 69 Cal. 541, 543);

20 WHEREAS Penal Code section 938 demands a “competent stenographic reporter” be 21 appointed for any investigation conducted by the Criminal Grand Jury;

22 WHEREAS Government Code section 69959 prohibiting the use of remote court 23 reporting to make the record is confined to court proceedings and the Grand Jury is not a court 24 proceeding;

25 WHEREAS the County of Siskiyou, being of a total population of less than 50,000

26 persons, has a deficit of certified court reporters;

27 1 28 Grand Jury Remote Reporting Order

1 WHEREAS the District Attorney has used diligent efforts to locate a certified court

2 reporter to report grand jury proceedings, without success;

3 WHEREAS the current Superior Court of Siskiyou County is limited to two certified

4 court reporters to conduct all in-person transcription for five judicial officers, including all jury

5 trials conducted within the county;

6 WHEREAS the pandemic of COVID-19 has caused Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-

7 Sukauye, Chair of the Judicial Counsel of California, to exercise authority under Government

Code § 68115 to allow for emergency orders for the Superior Court of Siskiyou County to extend 8 criminal statutory deadlines in criminal cases to effectively handle the backlog of criminal cases

9 from the court closures related to the pandemic and the need for certified court reporters in those 10 cases; and 11 WHEREAS the business of the Superior Court of Siskiyou County requires the full time 12 use of the two (2) certified reporters available to the court; 13

14 THIS COURT HEREBY ORDERS: Until further order of the Court, this Court finds

15 that a certified remote stenographer is a competent stenographic reporter within the meaning of

Penal Code section 938 and the Grand Jury of Siskiyou County may use remote stenographic16 reporting for any proceedings conducted by the Criminal Grand Jury. “Remote reporting” for

17 the purposes of this order means the use of a stenographic reporter who is not present in the 18 courtroom or meeting room to produce a verbatim record of grand jury proceedings that are 19 transmitted by audiovisual means to the reporter. 20 IT IS FURTHER ORDERED THAT: The remote reporter utilized by the Grand Jury 21 must be sworn as required by Penal Code section 938 and adhere to all statutory obligations

22 outlined in Part 2, Title 4, Chapter 3 of the California Penal Code.

23 IT IS SO ORDERED.

24 DATED: August 12, 2021 AZuuo m.25 Hprorable Judge JoAnn M. ^iqego SiWiyou County Assistant Presiding26 Judge/Acting Presiding Judge

27 2 28 Grand Jury Remote Reporting Order