In United States v. Orozco-Barron, --- F.4th --- No. 21-50298 (9th Cir. 2023), a divided panel held that the district court, in denying Orozco-Barron’s motion to dismiss his information for violations of the Speedy Trial Act, did not clearly err in excluding periods of delay resulting from ends of justice continuances granted due to events caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic.
This decision follows, and relies heavily on, United States v. Olsen, 21 F.4th 1036 (9th Cir. 2022). The Court focused much of its analysis on the limitations on jury trials in effect because of COVID.
The dissent argued that the district court was required to make case-specific findings before excluding time on the STA clock, which it did not do.
