At Court, It’s Not All Jackson All the Time

Just steps away from the noisy glut of fans and reporters awaiting the Michael Jackson child-molestation verdict, you can hear the birds chirping outside Judge Timothy Staffel’s courtroom as he recites the names of defendants on his arraignment list.

Elsewhere in this northern Santa Barbara County courthouse complex of one- and two-story buildings connected by wood overhangs and tree-lined patios, 12 jurors are deciding the real trial of the year in this city of nearly 90,000: a man’s guilt or innocence in the strangulation deaths of his pregnant girlfriend and her 2-year-old daughter.

Even as the Jackson case grabs the world’s attention, the mechanics of justice hum along quietly at this courthouse, Santa Maria-style.

Prospective jurors still flash a look of relief when they are excused from duty. Courthouse deputies on break scan the local newspaper and joke around. People walk into courtrooms past walls adorned with second-graders’ crayon drawings of the building and American flags without passing through a security screening.

A grinning bailiff teases a lawyer about his upcoming trip to Texas, sparking a dissertation by Judge Diana Hall about the size of Texan hailstones.

The small-town camaraderie at the courthouse has continued to thrive despite the Jackson brouhaha outside, sheriff’s Senior Deputy Michael Durant said.

“We’re a small town. People probably work a lot closer here,” he said.

It’s not only the cordiality that has remained steady. Court business is rolling along at the usual clip.

In addition to the Jackson and homicide trials, the court this week called in about 150 prospective jurors in preparation for two new ones, a three-strikes robbery-assault and a felony drunk-driving case.

That’s a lot for a courthouse that employs about 70 people. Normally, there are only two jury trials a month, said Darrel Parker, a court administrator, mostly for crimes such as burglary and possession or sale of methamphetamine.

Officials were particularly proud that the strangulation murder trial of James Manuel Noriega, charged with triple homicide because of his girlfriend’s unborn child, was able to proceed smoothly.

“We haven’t had any problems with our cases getting filed, and we were all worried about that at first,” Santa Maria Police Lt. Larry Ralston said at the city’s police station, which is next door to the courthouse.

Partly because most of the media are fenced in -- and Jackson fans fenced out -- much of the courthouse complex is free of Jackson-related drama.

And although more than 1,000 fans showed up at the start of Jackson’s trial in January, authorities said, only about 150 supporters have kept vigil at the courthouse this week awaiting a verdict.

Still, some local residents said the fans have encroached on their court business.

Johnny Torres, 26, a construction worker, said he was caught up in a group of pushy fans last week as he tried to get into court to pay a ticket.

Torres was surprised by the effect the scene had on his 3-year-old daughter, Melina. A fan gave the child a picture of Jackson, prompting her to repeat the pop star’s name so many times that she was given a timeout at preschool, said Torres’ fiancee, Susana Valdez.

“See what it does to the kids?” Torres said with a laugh.