Defendants Walk Because Too Few Judges Are Sitting

Ten criminal defendants walked away from a courthouse here this week, freed by Municipal Court officials who said they did not have enough judges to hear the cases.

As happy defendants charged with misdemeanors were released, including one accused of assaulting a police officer, Ventura County Municipal Court officials warned that more dismissals could follow.

One dismissal Tuesday was the case of a man charged with cruelty to animals. Another man, charged with driving under the influence of alcohol, had two prior convictions for the same offense. Other defendants released without trials included two others charged with driving while intoxicated and a man accused of building an illegal fire in a park.

Presiding Municipal Court Judge Art Gutierrez ordered the dismissals after concluding that the 11 Municipal Court judges on hand could not possibly handle the 515 cases that had to be heard on Tuesday, said Sheila Gonzalez, the court’s executive officer.

Gonzalez said the dismissals underscored the severity of the judge shortage in Ventura County, which needs at least 16 municipal judges in order to keep pace with the caseload, according to a report issued in March by the Judicial Council of California. The council noted last year that crowded dockets were causing Municipal Court judges in Ventura County to handle more cases than their counterparts in Los Angeles County.

“It’s very difficult to do the work of 16 when you only have 11,” Gonzalez said. “We are backlogged and we may have to dismiss more cases.”

Gonzalez said she was unsure how Gutierrez, the presiding judge, selected the cases for dismissal. Gutierrez was not available to comment.

The dismissals Tuesday drew sharp criticism from Ventura County Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury. “People who commit crimes need to know that there’s going to be punishment and they’re not going to walk out the door because of some snafu in the system,” he said.

Relief Legislation

Relief is contained legislation proposed by state Sen. Ed Davis (R-Valencia), said Charles Fennessey, the senator’s legal consultant. But he said Davis’ bill, which would authorize funds for three additional judges in both Municipal and Superior courts in the county, has been tied up in committees.

Court officials had requested assistance from the Judicial Council of California, which supplies overburdened courts with temporary judges, but on Tuesday the council had no judges to spare, said Lynn Holton, a council spokeswoman in San Francisco. She said courts across the state requested 31 judges that day but the council could find only 21.

“We deal with each court as it comes in and when Ventura’s request came in, there weren’t any judges,” she said.

Holton did not know how the other courts were affected, but said dismissals in such circumstances are “not unheard of.” She said that the office has been plagued with shortages for several years.

Under 1987 court funding legislation that became effective in January, Ventura County’s Municipal Court had been slotted for one additional judge, but Gov. George Deukmejian has yet to make the appointment, Gonzalez said.

“It would have been very helpful to have an extra judge, and it may have made the difference of this not happening,” she said.

Tom Beermann, the governor’s deputy press secretary, said Deukmejian has been “overwhelmed” by the requirements of the legislation, which call for him to appoint 109 new judges to municipal, superior and appellate benches, effectively doubling the number of such appointments he makes annually. “We’re trying to make them as fast as possible,” said Beermann. “We just haven’t gotten around to Ventura.”