Weber

FACTS

As best we can tell from the briefs, plaintiff sued defendant to recover $150,000 she alleges was investment capital for a proposed medical cannabis delivery service. Plaintiff asserts the transaction was a scam to extort money from her, and defendant asserts plaintiff was his partner in “a crime scheme that failed.” We need not delve into any details, because it is clear that the trial court correctly denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the case. This is the timeline. On March 23, 2018, plaintiff filed her complaint. On August 1, 2022, trial was scheduled for June 5, 2023. On February 27, 2023, defendant brought a motion to dismiss for failure to bring the case to trial within five years. On March 6, 2023, the trial court kept the then-currently scheduled trial date of June 5, 2023. On March 30, 2023, the trial court denied defendant’s motion to dismiss the case. The court’s minute order explained that an emergency rule of the California Rules of Court, issued in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, extended the time within which matters must be brought to trial by six months, a period which had not yet expired. (See Cal. Rules of Court, appen. I,

2 emergency rule 10(a)…