COVID-19

Masks are no longer required in the Clallam County Courthouse, nor in the courtrooms. Zoom appearances in many cases are still allowed, but not in all cases. Check with your lawyer, the court clerk, or courthouse facilitator if you want to appear by Zoom. The same Zoom login numbers remain in effect.

It’s respectful of others to continue wearing masks

COVID-19 is still active, and the B2 variant is raging in the United Kingdom, Europe, Korea, and China. Many Clallam County citizens remain highly vulnerable to the virus. Vaccinated people can be infectious and not know it. Even if triple/quadruple vaccinated, the vaccine may not stop the virus from living in nasal tissues. The current daily infection and also death rates are about the same or higher than the original peak in 2020, meaning there are still many, many people who are infected and passing it around.

The country with the highest amount of daily deaths is still….. the United States. The second worst is Russia and then Brazil. A few months ago experts were horrified to realize the U.S. might reach 800,000 COVID deaths. We will surpass one million COVID deaths in the next few days, and the numbers will keep rising.

The Clallam County Health Officer recommends people continue to take all precautions, including wearing masks in public.

CCB.com com urges our judges and lawyers to set a good example and continue to wear masks in court.

UPDATED: Criminal jury trials are now suspended an additional month, through March 13, 2022. Civil jury trials are still suspended through March 31, 2022. See Emergency Order January 28, 2022.

By Emergency Order January 14, 2022, jury trials have been suspended again because of the raging pandemic. Criminal jury trials are suspended through February 14, 2022. Civil jury trials are suspended through March 31, 2022. Divorce and bench trials are not suspended, and will proceed as scheduled in person or remotely.

Courtrooms are open, but the judges strongly encourage remote appearances by Zoom or phone. Exhibit A to the Emergency Order is the same as previously, and gives direction for appearing remotely.

For criminal trials, it is imperative defendants follow the rules for obtaining a new trial date. Failure to do so may result in a warrant being issued or bail revoked.

Editor’s note: These delays in justice can be frustrating and sometimes even hurtful. The purpose is to protect peoples lives, our local economy and our local health care services and providers. Infection rates and deaths remain at all time highs. If you find yourself getting angry, a natural feeling, please take a moment to find some grace and consideration for everyone involved, including yourself.

Emergency Order January 14, 2022, with Exhibit A

BREAKING NEWS: The Clallam County Courthouse, except for some Court services, will be closed January 6 and 7, 2022. Jury deliberation in the Bauer triple murder trial will continue. The District Court in Port Angeles is operating under restricted conditions. This post will be updated as more information is available. Updated information is also available at http://clallam.net/.

On Thursday, January 6, 2022:

1. The Bauer trial will remain in session.
2. Emergency restraining orders and new arrests will be handled in Courtroom 1 at 1:00 p.m.   The court will not process other matters such as opening probates, finalizing divorces, etc.
3. The ITA scheduled for January 6^th will proceed.
4. All juvenile matters are continued one week.
5. All matters on the afternoon criminal status calendar are continued one week.   
6. The matters on the Thursday morning criminal calendar will be continued on the record with the parties appearing by zoom.    Sentencings, 3.5 hearings, etc. will be rescheduled for a new date.

January 7, 2022

The Superior Court will continue operations, with limits, on Friday January 7, 2022. Settlement conferences will continue by phone appearance only.

Any emergency pleadings that must be processed by the court may be emailed to the court administrator.

This information was provided by Clallam County Superior Court Chief Judge Brent Basden.

For this Friday (1/7) ONLY. Zoom links for the court rooms are available here.

Courtroom 1

9:00 – Criminal Calendar – Use Courtroom 2 Zoom
1:00 – Criminal Ex Parte – Use Courtroom 1 Zoom
1:30 – Criminal Calendar – Use Courtroom 1 Zoom  

Historic Courtroom

9:00 – Civil Calendar – Use Courtroom 1 Zoom
10:30 – DV Calendar – Use Courtroom 1 Zoom
1:30 – Civil Calendar – Use Courtroom 2 Zoom

Courtroom 3

9:00 – Family AM Calendar – Use Courtroom 3 Zoom
1:00/1:15 – Civil/Juvenile Ex Parte – Use Courtroom 3 Zoom
1:30 – Family DV Calendar – Use Courtroom 3 Zoom

Courtroom 2

Is being used by jurors in State v. Bauer (triple murder case)

As of the beginning of January 2022, the CDC places Clallam County in the highest level of infection rate. All Washington State counties (except Garfield in Eastern Washington) are also rated in the highest level. Clallam County is currently experiencing it’s highest rates of COVID-19 infection ever.

https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#county-view?list_select_state=Washington&data-type=Risk&list_select_county=53007

At the same time, the Omicron variant is recognized as the most contagious variant, and is substantially more deadly than the original version of COVID-19. Hospitals and medical staff are being overwhelmed handling the extreme spike of infections in people of all ages, and the Omicron wave is just beginning.

New Zealand officials described how contagious Omicron is. Because New Zealand takes pandemic prevention measures seriously, and by using genetic testing, camera footage, and careful contact tracing, they were able to determine that one person in a quarantine facility was able to infect three others. Their policies prohibited people in quarantine from opening their doors, except to receive food or a COVID-19 test, and not two doors were allowed to be opened at the same time. Nevertheless, the infection happened simply when two quaratntine-hotel room doors were opened at the same time.

https://www.cnn.com/2021/12/30/health/new-zealand-covid-facility-transmission/index.html

The Clallam County vaccine requirement for indoor dining remains in place.

In British Columbia, infection rates are spiking. All in-person court appearances are cancelled. CBC radio reported today that the Omicron wave could be over in 6 weeks if everyone does the right thing, otherwise it is likely to last 3-4 months. They previously reported the Omicron variant could be caught from 33 feet (10 meters) away.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/covid-19-update-jan-3-1.6303041

Because of the surging Omicron variant of the COVID-19 virus, and to protect juror and witness safety, Clallam County courts are reducing jury trials in January 2022.

The Clallam County Superior Court is cancelling the start of all new jury trials in January, 2022. Jury trials already in progress, such as the Bauer murder trial, will continue on schedule. People with trials scheduled in January should contact their attorney or the court to determine what their responsibilities are. These limits are in Emergency Order 21-2-00001-05 entered by Judge Lauren Erickson on December 30 2021, which can be found at http://www.clallam.net/superiorcourt/.

Clallam County District Court I (Port Angeles) has also restricted trial and court access through January 26, 2022. Jury trials are postponed, and criminal defendants must contact their attorney or the court to make alternate arrangements. For civil matters, including name changes, anti-harassment cases, infraction cases (traffic), and civil motions, contact the court for scheduling. More information is available at http://www.clallam.net/DC1/index.html.

Clallam County District Court II (“The Forks Court”) information is available at http://www.clallam.net/DC2/index.html.

The Clallam County Superior Court has implemented many detailed measures to make legal proceedings as safe as possible for everyone, and to help minimize local COVID surges from overwhelming our community health system. Those include reconfiguring the courtrooms to create social distance space between everyone in the court room, requiring masks, creating a procedure for potential jurors to postpone their jury duty, and conducting jury selection in a large and well ventilated area.

Clallam County judges work with local health officials to determine optimal safety measures.

Governments and citizens prepare for the most intense wave to come – the Omicron variant.

The COVID-19 Omicron variant is by far the most transmissible variant of the pandemic virus to date. The delta variant was very infectious, but Omicron is many more times infectious. The US CDC is planning for punishing wave of Omicron infections in January. Many countries and quickly implementing intense new travel and gathering restrictions.

Vaccines are believed to be effective against the Omicron variant.

The British Broadcasting Corporation news reports South Africa saw a shockingly fast spike in COVID-19 cases, going from almost zero to over 3,000 per day. Children may be more severely affected by the Omicron variant. The Pfizer vaccine appears to prevent 70% of hospital admissions after two doses, and over 90% after three doses. The United Kingdom is currently experiencing it’s highest infection rates ever, at over 9,000 infections per day (according to testing results). Cumbria, a rural county in north England is expecting 900 cases a day by Christmas Day.

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation news reports that an early research study in Hong Kong indicates Omicron multiplies 70 times faster in the lungs and airways, and is contagious from up to 32 feet (10 meters) away. Omicron’s incubation period appears to be from 1-14 days.  Symptoms range from mild to severe, and how severe it may be is still unknown.

Businesses, sports teams, and countries are preparing to reduce or close operations.

Smokers and vapers are far more likely to become infected.

News outlets report over 97% of the US military has been vaccinated: Army 97%, Air Force 97.5%, Marine Corps 95%, Navy 98%. Service members refusing vaccination without a valid exception are being discharged.