Lawyers, clients, jurors and other individuals gathered in the lobby and hallways fanning themselves while waiting for the power to return.
Attorney Steve Pixley, who had a client facing a jury trial, said they had to move the second part of the hearing to the U.S. District Court.
“We were supposed to continue at 2 p.m. yesterday but we had to continue the hearing at the federal court this morning,” Pixley said.
Attorney Stephen Woodruff, who had a case scheduled at 1:30 p.m., said he had no choice but to hang around and wait when the power returns.
Assistant Attorney General Katie Busenkell had three cases waiting to be heard yesterday.
“My first case was scheduled at 1:30 but we had to wait until the power comes back on. These cases needed to be heard,” Busenkell told the Variety.
She said power outages that affect court proceedings are not new and have happened several times before — “but not to this extent.”
Presiding Judge Robert Naraja held court proceedings for four defendants in the conference room on the first floor of the building.
It was a small room and could not accommodate all the relatives and family members of the defendants.
They had to take turns going inside the room as each separate case was held.
Due to insufficient funding, the court now has to ration generator fuel.
The generator requires at least 50 gallons of fuel per hour to keep it running.
