Juror Shortage Forces Trial Postponements

A juror shortage caused in part by the Los Angeles County Superior Court system’s new “one-trial” jury program has forced the postponement of several trials in Van Nuys in the past two weeks, officials said Thursday.

“It’s just a mess,” said Michael J. Farrell, supervising judge for Van Nuys Superior Court. “I had to continue five cases today because the courts couldn’t get jurors.”

Van Nuys officials have imported jurors from other courthouses, said Damian Romero, Van Nuys jury coordinator.

One day last week, he said, the Van Nuys courthouse brought between 60 and 70 jurors from San Fernando. On Thursday, 50 jurors came from downtown Los Angeles. Today, about 150 jurors are expected from the Newhall court.

Courts have run out of jurors before, but the problem has seemed particularly acute in Van Nuys since the one-trial program began March 20, judges and court administrators said.

The program is being phased in across the county. Van Nuys, the county’s second-largest court district after downtown Los Angeles, is the largest courthouse using the program. It releases prospective jurors if they are not being screened or have not been chosen for a trial by the end of their first day of duty.

Other factors contributing to the shortage include cases that are unexpectedly transferred from other districts to Van Nuys, and the ongoing problem of jurors who fail to appear when summonsed, court administrators said.

Michael Paul McCullough, assistant court manager for Van Nuys, said that under the old system, jurors not chosen on their first day would go back into the jury assembly room and be available on subsequent days for up to two weeks. Now, many eligible jurors are released at the end of their first day.

Judges say they feel frustrated by the juror shortage. “I should be trying cases,” said Judge Richard G. Kolostian Sr., whose courtroom has run out of jurors the past two days.