California v. Superior Ct. (Tapia)
Annotate this CaseIn 2010, the California Supreme Court upheld a superior court's dismissal of a felony case under Penal Code section 1382 because there was no available judge or courtroom to hear the case. The Supreme Court held, without qualification, that “the state’s failure, over a considerable period of time, to provide a number of judges sufficient to meet the needs of Riverside County’s rapidly growing population and caseload” did not provide good cause to extend section 1382’s deadline. More recently, Courts of Appeal in other parts of California have held that delay and docket congestion caused by the COVID-19 pandemic constitutes good cause to extend section 1382’s deadline. In October 2022, about two years and seven months after the pandemic began, the Superior Court granted Jose Tapia’s motion to dismiss his felony case because there was no available judge or courtroom to try the case by the time the section 1382 deadline expired. In doing so, the Superior Court found that there was no good cause to extend section 1382’s deadline. The Riverside District Attorney sought writ review of that decision. Finding that the superior court did not err, the Court of Appeal affirmed dismissal.
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