Last week's published opinion from 1/3 in Rowan v. Kirkpatrick addresses the effect of COVID-19 court closures on notices of appeal. The superior court (Napa County) was closed from March 18 to May 29, so those days were "holidays." Moreover, the First District issued an order extending deadlines by 30 days for certain events within certain timeframes. The opinion concludes that the deadlines to file appeals were in early June. Thus, appellant's July 14 notice of appeal was untimely and the appeal was dismissed. The court concludes:
In closing, we acknowledge the unprecedented nature of the circumstances presented by the COVID-19 pandemic and the hardships it may have caused. Those with filing deadlines during court closure periods had to be especially vigilant of court reopening dates, particularly in view of the harsh consequences attending untimely filings such as those here. Although we recognize the distinct possibility that some litigants may have been denied the right to appeal through no fault of their own, we leave those concerns for another day. Courts have long recognized the policy, based on the remedial character of the right of appeal, to accord that right in doubtful cases when it can be accomplished without doing violence to applicable rules. (Hollister, supra, 15 Cal.3d at p. 674; Silverbrand v. County of Los Angeles (2009) 46 Cal.4th 106, 114 [discussing “constructive filing” decisions alleviating harshness of jurisdictional appeal deadline].) Here, however, Kirkpatrick does not contend she was prevented in any way from timely filing notices of appeal by June 1 or 4, 2020.
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