Preview
Superior Court of California
ROBERT H. ZIMMERMAN, Bakr No. 84345 County of Butte
SCHUERING ZIMMERMAN & DOYLE, LLP
400 University Avenu 11/18/2020
Sacramento, California 95825-6502
(916) 567-040
FAX: 568-0400 Koy ie. Clerk
By Deputy
Electronically FILED
Attorneys for Defendant ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF BUTTE
10 PATSY NEWTON, individually; HAROLD NO. 20CV01091
NEWTON, individually; SU:
11 BOLDEN, individually, Assigned to the Honorable Judge
‘amara L. Mosbarger for All
12 Plaintiffs, Purposes
13 vs. DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS
IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FO
14 ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER; and DOES 1 - RECONSIDERATION OF RULING ON
50, et al., MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL
15
Defendants. Date: December 16, 2020
16 Time: 9:00 a.m.
Dept: 1
17
Action Filed: May 29, 2020
18 Trial Date: December 14, 2020
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20 I, ALAINA T. DICKENS, declare:
21 1 Iam an attomey at law licensed to practice in the State of California. 1am
22 amember of the law firm of Schuering Zimmerman & Doyle, LLP, attorneys of record for
23 Defendant ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER.
24 2 On October 9, 2020, defendant filed a motion to continue trial. On
25 November 4, 2020, the motion was heard by the Honorable Judge Tamara L. Mosbarger.
26 Prior to that date, defendant's counsel was unaware the Court was considering a remote
27 jury trial. For that reason, neither defendant's motion nor plaintiffs' opposition addressed
28 whether trial should be remote.
01300819.WPD 1
DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF RULING
ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL
3. The Court first raised the possibility of a remote jury trial in its November 4
tentative ruling denying the motion to continue trial. The tentative stated that "The jury
trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to the global COVID-1 9 pandemic." A
true and correct copy of the tentative ruling is attached as Exhibit A. That tentative was
first available on November 3, 2020.
4 At the hearing, defendant objected to a remote jury tial. However,
defendant did not submit briefing on that issue as it lacked the time and opportunity to
pt of
do so. A true and correct copy of the November 4, 2020 Court's Reporter's Transcri
Proceedings is attached as Exhibit B.
10 5 On November 4, the court denied the motion to continue trial and ruled that
11 trial will proceed remotely via Zoom. On that same day, the court clerk served written
12 notice of the adverse order by mail. A true and correct copy of the Order after Hearing
13 on Defendant's Motion to Continue Trial is attached as Exhibit C.
14 6 Defendant seeks reconsideration based on these circumstances to present
a
1 ao briefing on the critical issue of a remote jury trial.
16 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the
17 foregoing is true and correct, and if called to testify, | could competently do so. Executed
18 this 17th day of November, 2020, at Sacramento, California.
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01300819.WPD 2
DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF RULING
ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL
EXHIBIT A
Superior Court of California, County of Butte
a
Attorney: Zimmerman, Robert Harry
11/04/2020 Tentative Ruling ~
Comment
Defendant's motion to continue the trial is denied. Plaintiff is entitled to trial preference under Code of Civil
Procedure section 36, and Defendant has failed to establish good cause for a continuance. The jury trial will
proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiff shall prepare the form
of Order.
EXHIBIT B
IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA
IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF BUTTE
PATSY NEWTON, et al.,
Plaintiff,
versus No.: 20CV01091
ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER and
DOES 1-50, et al.,
Defendant.
10
11
12 Chico, Butte County, CA, Wednesday, November 4, 2020
13 Before the Honorable TAMARA L. MOSBARGER
14 Court called to order at 9:51 a.m.
15 JANINE N. ALEXANDER, CSR 11472, Official Court Reporter
16
17 --000--
18
19 Motions
20
21 COURT REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS
22
23
CA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 69954(d) states: Any court,
24 party, or person who has purchased a transcript may, without
paying a further fee to the reporter, reproduce a copy or
25 portion thereof as an exhibit pursuant to court order or
rule, or for internal use, but shall not otherwise provide
26 or sell a copy or copies to any other party or person.
APPEARANCES
For the Plaintiff SEAN LAIRD
Attorney at Law
805 16th
Street
Sacramento, CA 95814
10
11 For the Defendant: SCHUERING, ZIMMERMAN
& DOYLE
12 Attorneys at Law
400 University Avenue
13 Sacramento, CA 95825
14 BY BOB ZIMMERMAN
Attorney at Law
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--000--
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Wednesday, November 4, 2020
Morning Session
--000--
THE COURT: 20CF01091, Patsy Newton versus Enloe
Medical Center.
Thank you for your patience this morning.
Mr. Laird, are you present?
MR. LAIRD: (via CourtCall) Yes, Your Honor. Good
morning.
10 THE COURT: Good morning.
11 Mr. Zimmerman, are you present?
12 MR. ZIMMERMAN: (via CourtCall) I am, Your Honor.
13 Good morning.
14 THE COURT: Good morning.
15 So again, I apologize. I had a lot of talking in
16 Judge Glusman's calendar and, as you heard, we've had a lot
17 of talking on this calendar.
18 Who would like to proceed? Mr. Zimmerman?
19 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Yes, if I may, Your Honor. I just
20 have a few comments that I want to be sure the Court
21 considers. I'm sure it has, but there are some things I'd
22 like to emphasize.
23 This matter was granted preference and set for
24 trial on December 14. After the motion for preference was
25 granted, I took the deposition of the plaintiff Patsy
26 Newton. And her health now is such that there is no
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
evidence that her health status is such that a trial needs
to be conducted immediately. She was doing really quite
well, particularly given the various comorbidities that she
has at the age of 82. But she was doing, she was doing as
well as she could hope.
The tentative says that there's no good cause. And
I, I disagree because of COVID and because the Court then
went on to say that the jury trial will proceed primarily
remotely via Zoom.
10 And I think the good cause exists to continue the
11 trial until such time that the clients and jurors can
12 participate together in the same room safely. A virtual
13 trial cannot replicate an in-person jury trial.
14 It's my understanding that remote trials are not
15 authorized by any statute or local rule, including the
16 Judicial Council emergency orders. I frankly, not that this
17 means anything, but I frankly hate the thought of doing any
18 jury trial remotely.
19 But we have an elder abuse case, we have an elder
20 abuse case where there's the spectre of punitive damages. A
21 remote trial raises due process concerns.
22 I think that proceeding remotely will prejudice the
23 right to a fair trial, will violate constitutional and
24 statutory rights, and I think good cause exists.
25 I just want to point out a practical effect of
26 COVID on my client, Judge. We've, we've completed between
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
25 and 30 depositions of nurses and CNAs, and there are more
to come. The initial request by the plaintiff's attorney
was the deposition of either 60 or 80 nurses. We're taking
treaters. We've since disclosed experts. There's five or
six experts aside. And my client, Enloe Hospital Medical
Center, is stretched in terms of its resources because of
these COVID prevention requirements and the fear and spectre
of another spike in COVID.
Let me just finish by saying that I don't, I don't
10 like the thought of any civil jury, any jury trial going and
11 being done remotely. How are we going to evaluate the
12 reactions of jurors, let alone trying to watch them during
13 the testimony? It is fraught with technology issues. And
14 I, and I know you know this, because I know you're a trial
15 lawyer.
16 But this is a poor analogy, but I'd much rather
17 have my kids home for Thanksgiving than interact with them
18 by Zoom. And it's a poor analogy, but the feeling is quite
19 strong that this is no way to conduct a jury trial.
20 And I would ask that the matter be put over to
21 sometime in the spring so that we can accommodate all of the
22 fair trial concerns that are at stake. Thank you very much.
23 THE COURT: Mr. Zimmerman, I certainly understand
24 your concerns and hesitations.
25 And the reasons I suggested we proceed primarily
26 remotely is based upon what they are doing in Alameda County
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
with their asbestos preference case. Now, if we weren't
talking about a preference case, perhaps you would have a
more persuasive argument with regards to continuing the
matter and establishing good cause in light of the COVID-19
global pandemic. But I have talked to the supervising civil
judge who just finished a two-month Zoom trial that he felt
was very successful.
That's the concern I have is, since I've already
granted preference under CCP 36, that she continues to have
10 these comorbidities I didn't find a way to find good cause
11 to continue this.
12 Certainly if we do proceed primarily remotely, you
13 and plaintiff's counsel would be involved in how we would be
14 proceeding and have input in that. We would certainly need
15 to discuss that thoroughly.
16 I'll hear from you, Mr. Laird. Are you interested
17 in doing a primarily remotely jury trial via Zoom?
18 MR. LAIRD Yes.
19 THE COURT Yes?
20 MR. LAIRD We had one going on the other day here
21 in our office, and it worked fairly successfully.
22 THE COURT Okay. What county?
23 MR. LAIRD It was a court trial, just so the
24 record's clear.
25 THE COURT That's not anything like a jury trial
26 as you know.
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
MR. LAIRD: Correct. But just in terms of the
logistics, the technical logistics it is very -- it's
doable in terms of the technology.
And in terms of my willingness to do it, I really
have to balance -- you know, the core issue for me is I have
an 82-year-old client who walks a razor-thin line every day
of her life with her health conditions. So it may not be
the perfect solution, but it's something that she is
demanding her day in court. And given the circumstances, I
10 think it's the best alternative, balancing all the interests
11 involved.
12 THE COURT: And there's no guarantee we'll get the
13 number of jurors that we need. We have had a spotty turnout
14 because of COVID. Then you're running up, with your time
15 estimate, you're running up into the holidays. Those are
16 complicating factors that we could make all these efforts,
17 start with jury selection, not have enough jurors, and have
18 to call a mistrial. So those are just issues that we would
19 have to deal with.
20 Do you wish to be heard further with regards to
21 Mr. Zimmerman's arguments?
22 MR. LAIRD: Well, I agree with the Court there's no
23 good cause.
24 Just in terms of some of the things he touched on,
25 you know. First of all, in terms of the number of
26 depositions and the discovery that's outstanding, it's just
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
touched upon in his pleading. However, we've had months
where there's been no treaters or no one else noticed until
the last couple weeks. So it suggests that the lack of
preparation and noticing those and preparing those doesn't
create good cause during the last two weeks of the discovery
process.
And then I would just say it's unfair for us to
relitigate the preference issue that's already been decided
by the Court. There was a time and place for that;
10 preference has been granted. She does have the
11 comorbidities, and I don't think there were any questions
12 that occurred during her deposition amounted to any showing
13 that preference still isn't entitled in this case.
14 And I'll submit on those comments.
15 THE COURT: Mr. Zimmerman, do you wish to be heard
16 further?
17 MR. ZIMMERMAN: No, I have nothing further at this
18 time, Your Honor. Thank you.
19 THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to take this matter
20 under submission. And certainly, if I adopt the tentative,
21 I will set up a time that the three of us can meet to go
22 over my thoughts with regards to how we will proceed
23 primarily remotely.
24 When I say primarily remotely I believe we will
25 have to do some things in person, as specifically our
26 initial hardship and for-cause determinations with our
‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
jurors.
Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. And again, thank you
for your patience. I know that was a long time to wait on
the phone this morning.
MR. LAIRD: Thank you, Your Honor
MR. ZIMMERMAN: Thank you, Judge. Have a great
day
THE COURT: Thank you.
10 (Matter concluded.)
11 --000--
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‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d)
COURT REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE
This is to certify that I, Janine N. Alexander, csR, a
Certified Shorthand Reporter of the State of California, was
present at the time and place the foregoing proceedings were
had and taken in the within matter; that as such shorthand
reporter I did take down in shorthand writing the
10 aforementioned proceedings and afterwards caused my said
11 shorthand writing to be transcribed into typewriting.
12 Further, pursuant to CCP237, all reference to jurors by name
13 has been redacted.
14
15 The foregoing pages beginning at:
16 001 through 009
17 are certified to be a complete transcription of said
18 stenographic shorthand notes.
19
20 DATED: THIS 9th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2020
21
22
23
24
JANINE N. ALEXANDER, CSR
25 OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER
BUTTE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT
26
EXHIBIT C
F Superior Court ot California F
| County of Butte |
L NOV 04 2020 L
E
D “oR erly Kener. Clerk
E
[)
By Deputy
SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF BUTTE
1775 Concord Avenue
10 Chico, CA 95928
11
PATSY NEWTON, et al, Case No. 20CV01091
12
13 Plaintiffs,
ORDER AFTER HEARING ON
DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO
14
CONTINUE TRIAL
15 VS.
16
17 ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER,
18 Defendant.
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24 Defendant’s motion to continue the trial came on for hearing on November 4, 2020.
25 The Court, having considered the moving papers, opposition, reply briefs, evidence and
26 argument of counsel, issues the following ruling.
Defendant’s motion to continue the trial is denied. Plaintiff is entitled to trial
27
28 preference under Code of Civil Procedure section 36, and Defendant has failed to establish
1
1 |} good cause for a continuance. The jury trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to
2 || the global COVID-19 pandemic.
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4 It is so ORDERED.
uw al k
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6 i WD
Hpn. Tamara osbarger,
7 Assistant Pre: 2g Judge of the Superior Court
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Preview
Superior Court of California ROBERT H. ZIMMERMAN, Bakr No. 84345 County of Butte SCHUERING ZIMMERMAN & DOYLE, LLP 400 University Avenu 11/18/2020 Sacramento, California 95825-6502 (916) 567-040 FAX: 568-0400 Koy ie. Clerk By Deputy Electronically FILED Attorneys for Defendant ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF BUTTE 10 PATSY NEWTON, individually; HAROLD NO. 20CV01091 NEWTON, individually; SU: 11 BOLDEN, individually, Assigned to the Honorable Judge ‘amara L. Mosbarger for All 12 Plaintiffs, Purposes 13 vs. DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FO 14 ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER; and DOES 1 - RECONSIDERATION OF RULING ON 50, et al., MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL 15 Defendants. Date: December 16, 2020 16 Time: 9:00 a.m. Dept: 1 17 Action Filed: May 29, 2020 18 Trial Date: December 14, 2020 19 20 I, ALAINA T. DICKENS, declare: 21 1 Iam an attomey at law licensed to practice in the State of California. 1am 22 amember of the law firm of Schuering Zimmerman & Doyle, LLP, attorneys of record for 23 Defendant ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER. 24 2 On October 9, 2020, defendant filed a motion to continue trial. On 25 November 4, 2020, the motion was heard by the Honorable Judge Tamara L. Mosbarger. 26 Prior to that date, defendant's counsel was unaware the Court was considering a remote 27 jury trial. For that reason, neither defendant's motion nor plaintiffs' opposition addressed 28 whether trial should be remote. 01300819.WPD 1 DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF RULING ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL 3. The Court first raised the possibility of a remote jury trial in its November 4 tentative ruling denying the motion to continue trial. The tentative stated that "The jury trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to the global COVID-1 9 pandemic." A true and correct copy of the tentative ruling is attached as Exhibit A. That tentative was first available on November 3, 2020. 4 At the hearing, defendant objected to a remote jury tial. However, defendant did not submit briefing on that issue as it lacked the time and opportunity to pt of do so. A true and correct copy of the November 4, 2020 Court's Reporter's Transcri Proceedings is attached as Exhibit B. 10 5 On November 4, the court denied the motion to continue trial and ruled that 11 trial will proceed remotely via Zoom. On that same day, the court clerk served written 12 notice of the adverse order by mail. A true and correct copy of the Order after Hearing 13 on Defendant's Motion to Continue Trial is attached as Exhibit C. 14 6 Defendant seeks reconsideration based on these circumstances to present a 1 ao briefing on the critical issue of a remote jury trial. 16 I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the State of California that the 17 foregoing is true and correct, and if called to testify, | could competently do so. Executed 18 this 17th day of November, 2020, at Sacramento, California. 19 “ 20 ALA NS 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 01300819.WPD 2 DECLARATION OF ALAINA T. DICKENS IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION OF RULING ON MOTION TO CONTINUE TRIAL EXHIBIT A Superior Court of California, County of Butte a Attorney: Zimmerman, Robert Harry 11/04/2020 Tentative Ruling ~ Comment Defendant's motion to continue the trial is denied. Plaintiff is entitled to trial preference under Code of Civil Procedure section 36, and Defendant has failed to establish good cause for a continuance. The jury trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to the global COVID-19 pandemic. Plaintiff shall prepare the form of Order. EXHIBIT B IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA IN AND FOR THE COUNTY OF BUTTE PATSY NEWTON, et al., Plaintiff, versus No.: 20CV01091 ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER and DOES 1-50, et al., Defendant. 10 11 12 Chico, Butte County, CA, Wednesday, November 4, 2020 13 Before the Honorable TAMARA L. MOSBARGER 14 Court called to order at 9:51 a.m. 15 JANINE N. ALEXANDER, CSR 11472, Official Court Reporter 16 17 --000-- 18 19 Motions 20 21 COURT REPORTER'S TRANSCRIPT OF PROCEEDINGS 22 23 CA GOVERNMENT CODE SECTION 69954(d) states: Any court, 24 party, or person who has purchased a transcript may, without paying a further fee to the reporter, reproduce a copy or 25 portion thereof as an exhibit pursuant to court order or rule, or for internal use, but shall not otherwise provide 26 or sell a copy or copies to any other party or person. APPEARANCES For the Plaintiff SEAN LAIRD Attorney at Law 805 16th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 10 11 For the Defendant: SCHUERING, ZIMMERMAN & DOYLE 12 Attorneys at Law 400 University Avenue 13 Sacramento, CA 95825 14 BY BOB ZIMMERMAN Attorney at Law 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 --000-- 24 25 26 Wednesday, November 4, 2020 Morning Session --000-- THE COURT: 20CF01091, Patsy Newton versus Enloe Medical Center. Thank you for your patience this morning. Mr. Laird, are you present? MR. LAIRD: (via CourtCall) Yes, Your Honor. Good morning. 10 THE COURT: Good morning. 11 Mr. Zimmerman, are you present? 12 MR. ZIMMERMAN: (via CourtCall) I am, Your Honor. 13 Good morning. 14 THE COURT: Good morning. 15 So again, I apologize. I had a lot of talking in 16 Judge Glusman's calendar and, as you heard, we've had a lot 17 of talking on this calendar. 18 Who would like to proceed? Mr. Zimmerman? 19 MR. ZIMMERMAN: Yes, if I may, Your Honor. I just 20 have a few comments that I want to be sure the Court 21 considers. I'm sure it has, but there are some things I'd 22 like to emphasize. 23 This matter was granted preference and set for 24 trial on December 14. After the motion for preference was 25 granted, I took the deposition of the plaintiff Patsy 26 Newton. And her health now is such that there is no ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) evidence that her health status is such that a trial needs to be conducted immediately. She was doing really quite well, particularly given the various comorbidities that she has at the age of 82. But she was doing, she was doing as well as she could hope. The tentative says that there's no good cause. And I, I disagree because of COVID and because the Court then went on to say that the jury trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom. 10 And I think the good cause exists to continue the 11 trial until such time that the clients and jurors can 12 participate together in the same room safely. A virtual 13 trial cannot replicate an in-person jury trial. 14 It's my understanding that remote trials are not 15 authorized by any statute or local rule, including the 16 Judicial Council emergency orders. I frankly, not that this 17 means anything, but I frankly hate the thought of doing any 18 jury trial remotely. 19 But we have an elder abuse case, we have an elder 20 abuse case where there's the spectre of punitive damages. A 21 remote trial raises due process concerns. 22 I think that proceeding remotely will prejudice the 23 right to a fair trial, will violate constitutional and 24 statutory rights, and I think good cause exists. 25 I just want to point out a practical effect of 26 COVID on my client, Judge. We've, we've completed between ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) 25 and 30 depositions of nurses and CNAs, and there are more to come. The initial request by the plaintiff's attorney was the deposition of either 60 or 80 nurses. We're taking treaters. We've since disclosed experts. There's five or six experts aside. And my client, Enloe Hospital Medical Center, is stretched in terms of its resources because of these COVID prevention requirements and the fear and spectre of another spike in COVID. Let me just finish by saying that I don't, I don't 10 like the thought of any civil jury, any jury trial going and 11 being done remotely. How are we going to evaluate the 12 reactions of jurors, let alone trying to watch them during 13 the testimony? It is fraught with technology issues. And 14 I, and I know you know this, because I know you're a trial 15 lawyer. 16 But this is a poor analogy, but I'd much rather 17 have my kids home for Thanksgiving than interact with them 18 by Zoom. And it's a poor analogy, but the feeling is quite 19 strong that this is no way to conduct a jury trial. 20 And I would ask that the matter be put over to 21 sometime in the spring so that we can accommodate all of the 22 fair trial concerns that are at stake. Thank you very much. 23 THE COURT: Mr. Zimmerman, I certainly understand 24 your concerns and hesitations. 25 And the reasons I suggested we proceed primarily 26 remotely is based upon what they are doing in Alameda County ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) with their asbestos preference case. Now, if we weren't talking about a preference case, perhaps you would have a more persuasive argument with regards to continuing the matter and establishing good cause in light of the COVID-19 global pandemic. But I have talked to the supervising civil judge who just finished a two-month Zoom trial that he felt was very successful. That's the concern I have is, since I've already granted preference under CCP 36, that she continues to have 10 these comorbidities I didn't find a way to find good cause 11 to continue this. 12 Certainly if we do proceed primarily remotely, you 13 and plaintiff's counsel would be involved in how we would be 14 proceeding and have input in that. We would certainly need 15 to discuss that thoroughly. 16 I'll hear from you, Mr. Laird. Are you interested 17 in doing a primarily remotely jury trial via Zoom? 18 MR. LAIRD Yes. 19 THE COURT Yes? 20 MR. LAIRD We had one going on the other day here 21 in our office, and it worked fairly successfully. 22 THE COURT Okay. What county? 23 MR. LAIRD It was a court trial, just so the 24 record's clear. 25 THE COURT That's not anything like a jury trial 26 as you know. ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) MR. LAIRD: Correct. But just in terms of the logistics, the technical logistics it is very -- it's doable in terms of the technology. And in terms of my willingness to do it, I really have to balance -- you know, the core issue for me is I have an 82-year-old client who walks a razor-thin line every day of her life with her health conditions. So it may not be the perfect solution, but it's something that she is demanding her day in court. And given the circumstances, I 10 think it's the best alternative, balancing all the interests 11 involved. 12 THE COURT: And there's no guarantee we'll get the 13 number of jurors that we need. We have had a spotty turnout 14 because of COVID. Then you're running up, with your time 15 estimate, you're running up into the holidays. Those are 16 complicating factors that we could make all these efforts, 17 start with jury selection, not have enough jurors, and have 18 to call a mistrial. So those are just issues that we would 19 have to deal with. 20 Do you wish to be heard further with regards to 21 Mr. Zimmerman's arguments? 22 MR. LAIRD: Well, I agree with the Court there's no 23 good cause. 24 Just in terms of some of the things he touched on, 25 you know. First of all, in terms of the number of 26 depositions and the discovery that's outstanding, it's just ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) touched upon in his pleading. However, we've had months where there's been no treaters or no one else noticed until the last couple weeks. So it suggests that the lack of preparation and noticing those and preparing those doesn't create good cause during the last two weeks of the discovery process. And then I would just say it's unfair for us to relitigate the preference issue that's already been decided by the Court. There was a time and place for that; 10 preference has been granted. She does have the 11 comorbidities, and I don't think there were any questions 12 that occurred during her deposition amounted to any showing 13 that preference still isn't entitled in this case. 14 And I'll submit on those comments. 15 THE COURT: Mr. Zimmerman, do you wish to be heard 16 further? 17 MR. ZIMMERMAN: No, I have nothing further at this 18 time, Your Honor. Thank you. 19 THE COURT: Okay. I'm going to take this matter 20 under submission. And certainly, if I adopt the tentative, 21 I will set up a time that the three of us can meet to go 22 over my thoughts with regards to how we will proceed 23 primarily remotely. 24 When I say primarily remotely I believe we will 25 have to do some things in person, as specifically our 26 initial hardship and for-cause determinations with our ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) jurors. Okay. Thank you, gentlemen. And again, thank you for your patience. I know that was a long time to wait on the phone this morning. MR. LAIRD: Thank you, Your Honor MR. ZIMMERMAN: Thank you, Judge. Have a great day THE COURT: Thank you. 10 (Matter concluded.) 11 --000-- 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 ‘This transcript Hall Md be reproduced to provide or sell copies pursuant to GC69954(d) COURT REPORTER'S CERTIFICATE This is to certify that I, Janine N. Alexander, csR, a Certified Shorthand Reporter of the State of California, was present at the time and place the foregoing proceedings were had and taken in the within matter; that as such shorthand reporter I did take down in shorthand writing the 10 aforementioned proceedings and afterwards caused my said 11 shorthand writing to be transcribed into typewriting. 12 Further, pursuant to CCP237, all reference to jurors by name 13 has been redacted. 14 15 The foregoing pages beginning at: 16 001 through 009 17 are certified to be a complete transcription of said 18 stenographic shorthand notes. 19 20 DATED: THIS 9th DAY OF NOVEMBER 2020 21 22 23 24 JANINE N. ALEXANDER, CSR 25 OFFICIAL COURT REPORTER BUTTE COUNTY SUPERIOR COURT 26 EXHIBIT C F Superior Court ot California F | County of Butte | L NOV 04 2020 L E D “oR erly Kener. Clerk E [) By Deputy SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA, COUNTY OF BUTTE 1775 Concord Avenue 10 Chico, CA 95928 11 PATSY NEWTON, et al, Case No. 20CV01091 12 13 Plaintiffs, ORDER AFTER HEARING ON DEFENDANT’S MOTION TO 14 CONTINUE TRIAL 15 VS. 16 17 ENLOE MEDICAL CENTER, 18 Defendant. 19 20 21 22 23 24 Defendant’s motion to continue the trial came on for hearing on November 4, 2020. 25 The Court, having considered the moving papers, opposition, reply briefs, evidence and 26 argument of counsel, issues the following ruling. Defendant’s motion to continue the trial is denied. Plaintiff is entitled to trial 27 28 preference under Code of Civil Procedure section 36, and Defendant has failed to establish 1 1 |} good cause for a continuance. The jury trial will proceed primarily remotely via Zoom due to 2 || the global COVID-19 pandemic. 3 4 It is so ORDERED. uw al k 5 6 i WD Hpn. Tamara osbarger, 7 Assistant Pre: 2g Judge of the Superior Court 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28