Court Doubles Judges Hearing Felony Cases

Fearing that defendants will be freed because their cases are taking too long to get to court, Ventura County judicial officials said Tuesday that they will double the number of judges hearing felony trials.

The move, which would reassign judges now hearing civil cases, is designed to head off what local court officials say could be a potential disaster: Without the extra jurists, they might be forced to cut loose some criminal defendants.

To prevent such a scenario, the number of judges hearing criminal cases is being increased from five to 10, Superior Court Presiding Judge Melinda A. Johnson said. Under the new system, the criminal caseload should be reduced to a manageable level within three weeks, she said.

“This is sort of a crisis situation,” she said.

Felony cases awaiting trial in the county have reached an all-time high of 230, officials said. Some judges have more than 50 trials scheduled for their courtroom, Johnson said.

Under state law, criminal charges must be dismissed against defendants who are not given a trial within 60 days of arraignment, unless they waive their speedy-trial right.

Prosecutors said they believe some defendants are refusing to accept plea negotiations in the hopes that charges will be dropped. But authorities would shut down the entire civil section of the court before allowing that to happen, Johnson said.

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Officials said they also are worried about the enormity of the court’s civil caseload. As of two weeks ago, 6,579 civil cases--some dating back to July, 1989--were awaiting trial in the county, Assistant Executive Officer Vincent Ordonez said.

Although Johnson said she does not want to give short shrift to civil cases, which involve disputes of $25,000 or more, she stressed that criminal cases must take priority.

Under the new system, Johnson said the five civil judges will be assigned criminal trials as soon as the cases are ready for jury selection. If no criminal cases are ready, the civil judges will stick to their normal assignments, she said.

“We’re not going to have any judge sitting around waiting for a criminal case,” she said.

Of the 14 elected or appointed Superior Court judges in the county, two work in Juvenile Court and two in Family Court. The other 10 had been divided between civil and criminal cases.

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Officials disagree on the reasons for the sudden glut of criminal cases in Ventura County.

Johnson said the tough-on-crime “three strikes” measure is one culprit. She also cited the passage in November of Proposition 172, which increased funding to police, prosecutors and other law-enforcement agencies.

Because of those two factors, “We’ve just have a lot of cases that piled up as time has gone by,” Johnson said.

Additionally, she said, two of the five Superior Court judges now hearing criminal case are tied up in lengthy trials and unable to help reduce the caseload.

But Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. Kevin J. McGee said prosecutors do not believe that the three-strikes law--which calls for prison sentences of 25 years to life for some repeat felons--has been a burden for the local court system.

McGee said his office had only filed nine three-strikes cases through the end of September. Prosecutors had also filed about 60 two-strike cases--which double some criminal sentences, McGee said. About one-third of those cases did not go to trial, thanks to early guilty pleas.

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“I don’t think we can say that ‘three strikes’ has anything to do with our local situation,” McGee said.

McGee attributed the increased criminal caseload in part to the county’s growing population and the resurgence of the drug methamphetamine.

Whatever is behind the growth in criminal court cases, prosecutors and defense attorneys said the court is right to assign more judges to deal with them.

“The court is taking prudent action in light of the fact that the (criminal) inventory has grown considerably,” McGee said.

Public Defender Kenneth I. Clayman also lauded the new system.

“It just seems to me that they are doing what they need to do to get the work done,” Clayman said.

But Clayman denied that his attorneys have tried to take advantage of the judge shortage by advising clients against early guilty pleas in hopes of getting charges dropped.

He did say, however, that with the new tougher laws, “any conscientious lawyer is certainly going to ask for more trials.”