Public Defenders Seek to Disqualify Judge Over Trial Speedups

Attorneys in the Los Angeles County public defender’s office have taken the apparently unprecedented step of seeking to disqualify the supervising judge of the criminal courts in numerous cases because they believe his determination to expedite trials is seriously jeopardizing the rights of defendants.

While efforts are underway to resolve the dispute, deputy public defenders in the past week have filed formal motions to prevent Superior Court Judge John Reid from sending about 20 criminal cases to other courtrooms for immediate trials. The number, according to one knowledgeable defense attorney, represents 25% to 30% of the cases that have come before Reid for assignment to courtrooms.

At issue are efforts by Reid, a former deputy district attorney, to avoid delays in the county’s vast criminal court system by trying to avoid postponements of trials--even if it means reassigning new attorneys for defendants.

“We’re just not going to take it anymore,” said one public defender, who spoke on condition of anonymity.

Reid was unavailable for comment about the action.

But Superior Court spokeswoman Jerrianne Hayslett said the action by deputy public defenders was having “absolutely” no effect on the flow of cases at the downtown Criminal Courts Building. She added that Reid’s clerk estimated that motions to disqualify the judge were filed in far less than 20% of the cases coming through Reid’s courtroom.

But the concern among public defenders, who are assigned an average of 25 to 30 cases at a time, is that Reid is effectively denying defendants the right to retain the public attorneys who may have worked on their cases for weeks or even months.

That worry is echoed by prominent private criminal attorneys.

“One of the concerns the defense bar has about the system today is that the objective . . . is to do cases and not do justice,” said Santa Monica defense attorney Charles English, the chairman of the American Bar Assn.’s national standards committee.

“I understand judges wanting to speed it up, and it is important that we are efficient. There isn’t enough money for everything in government anymore,” English said. “But it also is important that we not lose sight of justice as an objective. I mean, we could have a very inexpensive Fire Department if we let a lot of buildings burn down. But we do not do that. And we cannot allow our criminal justice system to burn down . . . by only being concerned with dollars and with speed.”

Assistant Public Defender Robert Kalunian said the action by attorneys in the nation’s largest public defender’s office began last week as lawyers grew frustrated by Reid’s refusal to allow postponements.

“What seems to have been occurring in the past month is that, in certain instances . . . our lawyers had cases that were in their last day for trial and they wanted brief continuances because they were [involved in cases] in other courtrooms,” Kalunian said.

While the defendants in those “last day” cases were willing to waive their right to a speedy trial, Reid took the position in some cases that if deputy public defenders were unable to move forward, the cases should be assigned to other attorneys rather than be continued, Kalunian said.

“Reid’s position is that under the law, he has an obligation to ensure that cases are brought to trial in a timely fashion,” Kalunian said. “We concur in that position, but not to the extent it interferes with the attorney-client relationship.”

Added Kalunian: “Our position is that although there are times when cases can be reassigned . . . when they are serious or complex, it is not in the best interests of the client to do so at such a late stage in the case.”

Last Friday, Kalunian said, he and Public Defender Michael Judge met with Reid and Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert Parkin to discuss the matter. “We had a frank and open two-hour discussion in an attempt to resolve the issue,” Kalunian said.

Kalunian said a general meeting of deputy public defenders will be held today to discuss the matter. It was unclear, Kalunian said, whether they will continue to seek the disqualification of Reid.

“You gotta be pretty mad to [take this action] against a guy like that because most of what Reid does are ministerial acts. He is not making decisions on the merits of a case. He is not taking in evidence,” said one attorney in the alternate public defender’s office.

As such, attorneys said, the action of deputy public defenders is dramatic.

“When you [seek the disqualification] of the supervising judge, you give up your right as an attorney to [also disqualify the trial judge] assigned to the case,” said private defense attorney Harland Braun. “So it shows you how adamant they must be . . . they must be really furious.”

Braun said he believed Reid’s actions were motivated by a desire to process cases regardless of the consequences. “He is cantankerous and feels that if he pushes cases, the lawyers will just fear him and plead out . . . that they will sell out clients to protect themselves.”

Added Braun: “It’s easy for a judge like Reid to forget that a defendant is a human being . . . but if a [judge] is making major decisions about life and death and can’t handle the basic human problem of a lawyer who has three clients all set to go to trial, you wonder how he can make more important decisions.”

While less harsh in his appraisal, English voiced concern about the impact of Reid’s actions.

“I like John. He is a very good friend of mine. But he has never been a defense lawyer. He has never been in the situation of trying to talk to a client,” said English.

And when that relationship is breached, English said, the very cases that Reid may be trying to move along could wind up being derailed as defendants lose faith in the system and refuse, for example, to even consider plea bargains.

“At some point,” English said, “you end up trying to speed up the cases so much that you end up slowing [the system] down because cases that should not go to trial end up going to trial.”