Defenders’ Strike Brings Disorder in the Courts : Labor: Bulk of criminal proceedings are continued until next week. One-day walkout is tied to salary dispute.

A one-day strike by Ventura County’s public defenders Friday brought the criminal justice system to a halt.

It took Municipal and Superior court judges hours longer than normal to work through their crowded calendars as they waited for harried administrators and emergency fill-ins to appear in their courtrooms. No action was taken on the bulk of the approximately 500 cases scheduled for Friday as most were continued until next week.

“Monday will be hell,” Public Defender Kenneth Clayman said.

All but three of the 38 trial lawyers in the office did not report to work Friday. The three attorneys were in the middle of jury trials and did not want to disrupt the proceedings. All three refused to take pay for the day as part of the protest, Clayman said.

The public defenders were reacting to a labor contract dispute they and county prosecutors have with county officials. Prosecutors stayed on the job, although several called in sick or took vacation days.

Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Ron Janes said he did not know how many prosecutors missed work Friday but “we did not notice any difference in our ability to man the courtrooms.”

Cases with private defense attorneys were not disrupted Friday, but the public defender’s office handles about 65% of the county’s criminal cases. Most defendants ordered to court Friday waited up to seven hours for their cases to be called--only to be told to come back later in the month.

“They knew they were only going to make me come back, so I don’t know why I had to wait the whole day to be told that,” said Daniel K. Bockman, who appeared in the courtroom of Superior Court Judge Charles W. Campbell Jr. Bockman, who faces two felony drug charges, arrived in court at 8:30 a.m. and had his case called at 3:30 p.m.

Judges could take no action with unrepresented defendants until a lawyer from the public defender’s office appeared in the courtroom, which made for a long day for Clayman and his two top deputies.

Clayman handled a misdemeanor caseload for the first time in decades while his No. 2 lawyer, Duane Dammeyer, covered five felony courtrooms and a misdemeanor arraignment calendar during the day.

“This wasn’t the first time I’ve been in a courtroom,” Dammeyer said. “But it is the first time I have been in six courtrooms handling the entire calendar.”

Like a flight attendant rushing to make takeoff time, Dammeyer spent the day hustling from one courtroom to the next, pulling along a dolly stacked high with cases. At least two packed courtrooms exploded in applause when Dammeyer appeared, relieved that cases would finally be heard.

Manacled inmates filled jury boxes and dozed in their seats as the proceedings stalled shortly after court started while judges waited for Dammeyer to appear.

Superior Court Judge Charles R. McGrath greeted Dammeyer with a broad smile and a hearty “Good morning” when the assistant public defender finally arrived in the judge’s courtroom, enabling the reading of the morning calendar 30 minutes before the noon recess.

Next door, dozens of defendants who were ordered to appear at 8:30 a.m. slouched glumly in Campbell’s courtroom until Dammeyer arrived after 2 p.m. Meanwhile, Clayman worked misdemeanor arraignments in the courtroom of Municipal Judge Bruce A. Clark. It was Clayman’s first foray into the misdemeanor world of petty theft, marijuana possession and vandalism in 26 years.

“It gives him a chance to strut his stuff,” Clark said with a smile. Clark, a judge for 15 years, said this is the first work stoppage by attorneys he could recall.

However, Presiding Municipal Judge John R. Smiley said judges were prepared for the walkout.

“The public defenders handled it in a very classy way,” said Smiley, who declined to take a position on the strike or the labor negotiations. “They did the right things.”

Smiley said union leaders met with him and other judges earlier in the week to inform them of the walkout. Secondly, Smiley said, it appeared that lawyers scheduled as little as possible for Friday’s calendar.

“It was done in the least disruptive manner possible,” he said.

Clayman pressed an office law clerk into service. Sheila Crockham passed the bar recently and Superior Court Judge Steven Z. Perren swore her in as a deputy public defender shortly after 8 a.m. By 8:30, Crockham was defending clients in juvenile court.

“I’m sure it was both exciting and nerve-racking for her,” Clayman said.

Union leader and veteran public defender Douglas Daily said he and several colleagues spent the day dispensing free legal advice at drug rehabilitation centers in Ventura County.

Public defenders and prosecutors are represented by a single union, which was formed in January. The labor organization seeks pay raises for its 133 members, who want to be compensated at the same rate as the 16 attorneys in the county counsel’s office.

Prosecutors and public defenders earn between $33,700 and $79,200 annually while their civil law counterparts in the county counsel’s office earn between $35,386 and $83,122.

Talks between county officials and union leaders broke off Monday without a resolution and no further talks have been scheduled.