Santa Ana Division Has Largest Backlog of Appellate Courts

Orange County’s 2 1/2-year-old division of the 4th District Court of Appeal, which has been pleading with the Legislature for a fifth justice to handle its heavy caseload, has the largest backlog of cases of any appellate court in the state, according to figures released Friday by the state Administrative Office of the Courts.

“I would say it is compelling evidence that we need more judges , not just another judge,” Presiding Justice John K. Trotter said.

The Orange County justices for the year ending June 30, 1985, handled 738 cases, both civil and criminal, more than any other four-justice appellate court. The backlog as of May 31, the latest date used by the state administrative office, showed 521 civil cases pending, along with 251 criminal matters.

When the court was opened in January, 1983, Trotter said its goal was to decide an appeal within six months after attorneys in the case had filed their briefs with the court. But because of the backlog, Trotter said: “We’re now looking at a year and a half on most cases.”

David L. Price, president of the Orange County Bar Assn., said all four are hard-working, excellent judges.

“But that’s just too long a wait for the system to work,” Price said. “Too often, when you wait that long, the matter you wanted a ruling on becomes a moot point.”

40 Cases a Month

The justices handle an average of 40 cases per month, but the court receives about 65 a month, Trotter said, meaning that the court is getting farther and farther behind.

A bill sponsored by state Sen. Paul B. Carpenter (D-Cypress) would add one more justice to Orange County’s division of the 4th District, but the legislation may be put over to next year.

The statistics also showed that the court on the whole is keeping up with the state average on the number of cases handled. But it also showed that two of the four justices lagged behind.

For example, on cases requiring written opinions, which take up most of the justices’ time, Trotter filed 129 opinions and Justice Thomas J. Crosby had 124, both well above the state average of 110. But Justice Sheila Sonenshine handled 103, slightly below the state average, and Justice Edward Wallin had 85, far below average.

Wallin, apprised of the statistics, said he was not surprised but that he expected his output to be higher the next year.

Personal matters and a staff changeover affected his productivity, Wallin said. But he added: “I know I have a reputation for being painstaking, and I suppose I might take longer on some cases.”

Took a Long Time

Wallin added that he also handled several extremely complicated civil cases which took an unusual amount of time.

The state statistics showed another aspect of Wallin’s work. In the criminal cases he handled, he reversed lower court judges 23% of the time, almost twice as often as the other three justices.

Wallin said he found that figure interesting but not informative.

“We get appeals from the district attorney’s office as well as defense attorneys,” Wallin said. “I am a liberal when it comes to civil liberties, but I don’t think anything can be shown by the statistics. Next year, I could end up with fewer reversals than any other justices. A lot depends on the type of cases you get.”

The state statistics also show that the appellate court receives an unusually high number of appeals of civil cases. It’s the only appellate division in the state with twice as many civil filings as criminal.

Wallin says the answer probably is that Orange County “is a community with a lot of development and a lot of aggressive economic growth. It results in a lot of civil litigation.”

And the high number of civil cases contributes to the backlog, Trotter said.

Price said the Bar Assn. plans to support the justices request for another justice.

‘Need More Help’

“We don’t want our justices working 18 hours a day to get the backlog down; that’s not the answer,” Price said. “They simply need more help.”

The Orange County court was created in 1982 after Orange County legislators complained that local attorneys had to travel to San Bernardino or San Diego to file an appeal or appear before the appellate court.

“Now I think we might have a heavy caseload because we’ve made filing an appeal so easy,” Price said. “All you have to do is walk across the street (from the County Courthouse) in downtown Santa Ana.”