The Region : Second Court Planned

A second Los Angeles Municipal Court arraignment courtroom will be added to help ease severe overcrowding in holding cells at the Criminal Courts Building, Presiding Municipal Judge George W. Trammell announced. Trammell said the second court, which will handle felony arraignments, will begin service on a regular basis no later than May 1. In the meantime, he added, a second arraignment court will be opened on a contingency basis on days when the number of prisoners awaiting arraignment in the building exceeds 180. The measure is one of several being instituted to deal with overcrowding, stemming from recent complaints by public defenders who likened conditions in the sole arraignment court’s holding cells on peak days to those in a concentration camp. By opening the second court in a room in which misdemeanor cases are now heard, the arraignment process can be speeded up and additional holding cells will be available, Trammell said.