Courts’ Vulnerability Spurs Outcry

Security in the Van Nuys Courthouse complex’s trailer and bungalow courtrooms--including the court where a gun battle left a man dead and a bailiff injured this week--long has been a “nightmare,” authorities said Thursday.

The shooting, which occurred Wednesday morning in Division 116, a bungalow in temporary use for more than two years, has spurred calls from judges and attorneys for better security in all courthouse facilities, authorities said.

“We need more security--that’s obvious,” said Municipal Judge Michael B. Harwin. “Maybe this incident will make it happen.”

Municipal judges at the Van Nuys complex are scheduled to meet today to discuss the security problems. Meanwhile, City Atty. James K. Hahn has said he will ask county supervisors to require metal detectors at all court facilities.

It was in Harwin’s courtroom that Jeremey A. Sigmond, 35, was killed after exchanging fire with Los Angeles County Deputy Marshal Cliff Wofford. Sigmond, who was wearing a bulletproof vest, died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to a Los Angeles County coroner’s report.

Wofford, 30, was shot in the abdomen. He was listed in stable condition Thursday at St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank.

Authorities said Sigmond forced Deputy City Atty. Jessica Perrin Silvers, 49, into the courtroom at gunpoint. Silvers had successfully prosecuted him the day before in that courtroom on four misdemeanor charges, including carrying a concealed weapon. She was able to break free from Sigmond before the shooting started and was unhurt.

Much of Van Nuys Municipal Court is housed in seven trailers and six wooden bungalows outside the Superior Court building. Since 1985, the sprawl has been seen by court officials as a temporary arrangement while a new Municipal Court building is being built next door. The building is expected to open in midsummer.

But the sprawl and the open access to the temporary courtrooms has been a longtime problem, said Cmdr. Clyde Gatlin, head of operations for the marshal’s office, which is charged with providing security in the county’s municipal courts.

“It is a major headache--a nightmare--for us as far as security goes,” Gatlin said. “They are temporary structures that are outside the confines of the court building. They are isolated and they are open.”

“The bungalows are insecure for everybody who goes in,” Silvers said. “They are a nightmare.”

Sigmond’s actions Wednesday seem to confirm the nightmare. But Gatlin and other officials also noted that it might have been impossible to stop Sigmond in most courtrooms in Los Angeles County, given current levels of security.

“The ideal situation is to screen everybody that comes into a courthouse, but it just isn’t feasible,” Gatlin said. “Many of our courthouses were built before security was an issue. There are too many entrances. There is no way to monitor everybody.

“It is like protecting the President. If a person really wants to get to somebody, he can.”

From the accounts of witnesses and Los Angeles police, it appears that Sigmond--wearing a suit and carrying a briefcase--approached Silvers as she was about to enter Division 116. Police said he pulled a gun and took her hostage as they went in. He told her he wanted a new trial.

According to investigators and witnesses, the courtroom shoot-out then unfolded like this:

‘He’s Got a Gun’

As Sigmond and Silvers moved past the rows of public seats toward the attorneys’ tables, someone in the courtroom yelled: “He’s got a gun!” Then, the six or seven people present dropped to the floor.

Deputy Marshal Pat Warford, the bailiff on duty, dropped behind her desk, pulled out her handgun and activated a silent alarm. Harwin took cover and also hit an alarm switch. The alarm activated an emergency light in the nearby marshal’s office and an intercom that enabled deputies there to hear what was happening in the courtroom.

Wofford immediately left the marshal’s office for the courtroom, about 30 yards down a boardwalk that connects the bungalows. Other deputies followed as the intercom began picking up Warford telling someone to drop a gun and then saying: “I have a hostage situation. I have a hostage situation.”

Sigmond put the gun to Silvers head and told Warford to drop her weapon or he’d kill his hostage. Warford complied, but as Sigmond moved to pick up the gun, Silvers broke away and ran into the jury room and closed the door.

Now with two guns, Sigmond moved toward Harwin saying he wanted to hold a news conference. When Sigmond neared the bench, Wofford entered the courtroom and drew his weapon as he moved toward the attorneys’ tables. He told Sigmond to drop the guns. A few moments later, the gunfire erupted and both men were hit.

“I give up,” Sigmond yelled. “I’ve been shot.”

Warford and Harwin then tackled Sigmond on a step in front of the bench. Harwin took the guns away from Sigmond and Warford handcuffed him. Sigmond died on the step while Wofford walked outside to wait for an ambulance.

Police declined to say how many shots had been fired. There were bullet holes in the ceiling, the tube of the clerk’s computer and in the back of the judge’s chair, witnesses said.

Gatlin said Thursday that the existing security for the bungalow--the response of the marshals and the alarm system--worked well. But he said there was nothing in place that could have prevented the situation.

There are no metal detectors at entrances to the bungalows, trailers or the main courthouse. In most courthouses in the county, metal detectors are only set up at the doorways of courtrooms when dangerous defendants are on trial.

Court officials said it would be too expensive to put detectors at all entrances. The multiple entrances would have to be monitored by security guards, they said.

Lt. Edwin M. Powell, the deputy marshal in charge of security in the eight San Fernando Municipal Courts, said he would prefer that metal detectors be installed at the entrance to every courtroom.

“The question is, who would monitor them,” Powell said. “The expensive item is personnel.”

The new Van Nuys Municipal Courthouse is designed so that metal detectors can be used efficiently at all entrances, officials said. Whether the courthouse will be so equipped when it opens later this year, has not yet been decided, said Richard A. Paez, presiding judge of the Los Angeles Municipal Court District.

But he said he believes that placing metal detectors at courthouse entrances should be pursued where feasible.

“There are a lot of issues involved and budgetary issues are part of them,” he said. “You have to look at each facility. Some are easier to provide security for.”

Security Machines Likely

Capt. Allen L. Mathews, a spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department, responsible for security in the county’s superior courts, said more metal detectors and “X-ray machines,” similar to those used at airports, will probably be installed in select courthouses as a result of Wednesday’s shooting.

He noted that metal detectors cost about $5,000 each and “X-ray machines” can be leased for about $800 per month.

The only courthouse in the county that uses metal detectors to screen all people entering is in Compton. The tight security there was instituted in October, 1986, after a one-day search of courtroom observers turned up more than 40 weapons.

The system is feasible there, officials say, because the Compton courthouse is small and has only two entrances. One is closed to the public and a walk-through metal detector is installed at the other entrance.

Times staff writer Lynn Steinberg contributed to this story.