The Fight Against Crime: Notes From the Front : Their Day in Court Is More Like a Minute

Van Nuys Municipal Court Commissioner Kirkland Nyby donned his judicial robes and walked out of his chambers, heading for the court of first resort.

He was the presiding judge that day in Division 101, the point of entry for the vast majority of misdemeanor cases in the San Fernando Valley.

If his judicial role was going to his head, he was hiding it well.

“In this court,” Nyby said just before entering the 150-seat courtroom, “you feel less like a judge and more like the moderator at a game show.”

Welcome to arraignment court, where each week hundreds of Valley residents are summoned to enter a plea on misdemeanor crimes that include spousal abuse, prostitution, soliciting prostitution, drug sales and petty theft.

Last year alone, about 13,000 cases were processed through Division 101.

“Except for something that happens in the city of San Fernando, every penal case in the Valley starts here,” said Deputy City Atty. Kennith Tso.

“This is the court of mass quantities.”

Among the mass quantities in Division 101, the majority who come to answer for the crimes they have allegedly committed are young, low-income people who fend for themselves in the court or make use of a public defender.

“This is a real light day,” said court clerk Michele Hemelstrand, who has on her desk numerous rubber stamps, including “Custody,” “Probation Revoked” and “HIV Test Results on File.”

The human immunodeficiency virus test, she explained, is required of anyone involved in a prostitution or other sex crime. The test results are kept out of the case file, but can be seen by the city attorney if the person gets into trouble again.

She estimates that the number of cases to be heard that day, including many accused of violating probation rules set in cases heard previously in the court, would be about 120. On the day after a holiday weekend, it sometimes is almost triple that number.

“Come back and see us on July 5,” Hemelstrand said with a laugh.

Nyby sat down in his chair behind the bench and the action began.

First up was a man pleading no contest to a charge of trespassing, reduced from soliciting prostitution. He got 12 months probation and a $150 fine. He was also required to attend an class on acquired immune deficiency syndrome.

The man sheepishly thanked the court. The whole process took 47 seconds.

“Everything is done by the time I get in there,” Nyby said later in his chambers.

Before court was in session that morning, the city attorneys had gone over the cases and assigned each a reduced sentence if the defendant agreed to plead no contest or guilty.

“The laws allow for a benefit for the early admission of guilt,” Nyby said.

The person to be arraigned can take that settlement, which often includes some time on a Caltrans graffiti removal crew, or plead not guilty and take his or her chances in trial.

Most of those appearing before the court that morning took the reduced charge.

A man in a “He carried the cross for us” T-shirt accepted a $10 fine for carrying in public an open container of alcohol. A woman got 24 months probation and a fine for prostitution.

Some of the saddest cases involve spousal abuse. A woman carrying a baby and holding the hand of a little boy pleaded that her husband, who allegedly struck her, be let go free.

“Something like that happens in a majority of these cases,” said public defender Cynthia Solomon. “It’s part of what we know about domestic violence.

The charges were not dropped.

As justice was being doled out in these cases, the courtroom resembled a small political convention with attorneys, defendants, courtroom officials and interpreters constantly rushing about and conversing. Only a few listened to the featured speaker, the judge.

This did not seem to bother Nyby.

“I’m just here as a referee to blow the whistle at the start of the day and blow it again when it’s all over,” he said.