Recently in Court Category

There are few things in life that annoy more than someone whose whole task is to uphold the law ... yet they don't know what the law is.

Case in point: On Friday, I entered Judge Katherine Mader's courtroom at the Airport Courthouse during jury instructions. Closing arguments in Thomas Snodgrass' trial were to follow, so I was sitting quietly, virtually alone in the gallery, listening to the instructions. The bailiff approached me and asked if I was there for a specific case. This isn't unusual - bailiffs are generally helpful and want to make sure people are in the right place or see if they have a case on calendar. I told her I was here for this case, and that I'm a reporter for the Daily Breeze.

This is where things got ugly.

 Court of Appeal Announces

Destruction of Records

Los Angeles--The Court of Appeal for the Second Appellate District (Los Angeles) has announced its intention to destroy the following criminal records pursuant to Rule 10.1028(c), California Rules of Court:

All criminal cases numbered between B001001-B009999 (1983-1984).

Anyone who knows of a reason why any of the above cases should be retained, whether for historical or other reasons, should notify Joseph Lane, Clerk/Administrator. The reasons for retention should be in writing by November 30, 2008 to:

Mr. Joseph Lane, Clerk/Administrator

Court of Appeal, Second Appellate District

300 South Sprint Street, Second Floor,

North Tower

Los Angeles, California 9001

Got this today from a reader:

"Hi Denise,

Just curious what 'pretrial' means?  Does this mean that the defendent will go before a jury? Or plea-bargaining first?"

 "A pretrial is kind of the generic term used to describe court dates that occur between a preliminary hearing and re-arraignment and the actual trial. Although most cases don't actually go to trial (most plea bargain out), the system has to assume they all are. At pretrial hearings, not much usually happens. The lawyers will exchange evidence and information, they'll iron out any issues that may arise and they'll discuss offers. Then, they just set another date for pretrial and trial. There are statutory regulations regarding how quickly a case must move through the system, but if a defendant waives those rights, things can drag on (and on and on)."

 

From Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's office:

Increases Megan's Law Protections, Keeps Sexual Offenders Off California Streets

 Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger today reinforced his commitment to public safety by signing legislation that establishes stricter probation standards for offenders with child pornography-related convictions and increases the registry requirements for sexual offenders mandated by Megan's Law. The Governor also signed legislation that will provide additional resources to evaluate convicts considered to be sexually violent predators and prevent the release of those individuals into the community.

 "Protecting Californians has always been my top priority and this legislation ensures that the state will continue to have the strictest laws and toughest penalties to protect our children against sexual predators," Governor Schwarzenegger said. "It is important to pass legislation that provides law enforcement officials with the tools they need to remove dangerous sex offenders from our streets and neighborhoods."

 The following four bills have been signed into law:

 ·        SB 1187 by Senator Jim Battin (R-La Quinta) makes changes to an existing law requiring the Department of Justice to publish the personal information of persons convicted of specified sexual offenses on the online registry pursuant to Megan's Law. This bill extends the publishing requirement to those convicted of felony child pornography starting January 1, 2010.

Late last week, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed some bills that will bring more funding to fixing the state's dilapidated courthouses (SB1407), give further protections to elders against abuse (AB2100) and force blood withdrawl for testing for anyone who has exposed police or emergency personnel to their blood (AB2737).

Chief Justice Ronald George, in his annual State of the Judiciary Address before the State Bar Conference of Delegates this weekend, applauded the passage of SB1407, which will earmark $5 billion to build and renovate courthouses. It will go to those that are in the most critical conditions - which will likely include the Long Beach Courthouse in this area. But it's not enough, he said.

There are still a bunch more for Schwarzenegger's consideration sitting on his desk, and tomorrow's the deadline. He says he's only signing those that have a high priority for California.

Resources:

California Legislative Information

California Courts Reference Information

We admit that we don't really know why, but we're now Twittering. Do you Twitter? We'll take advice.

You can see what I'm saying about courts @dbreezeCourts

Larry will be tweeting about crime (and who knows what else) @dbreezeCrime

*Tweet*

Got this in the inbox recently:

Dear Ms. Nix:
Gosh, your COURT TRACKER department in the DB is fantastic!
What public documents do you use to compile this valuable reporter's resource.
I'd like to maintain something like this for the rest of the county.

In Admiration,

Dwight Babamoto
Sun Valley by way of Rolling Hills

For those of you who don't know what my new best friend Dwight is talking about, you should check out my little labor of love, The Court Tracker. It's the criminal cases I'm following, most of which we've written on and will report on again when there's a significant development. I try to update it as often as possible - usually a couple times a week. It's searchable by defendant, upcoming court date, etc. One day soon, I hope to add civil cases, too.

Check it out and let me know if I've missed anything!

A lawyer is jailed for reading Maxim magazine in court, a judge sues for falling down in the courthouse and a firefighter who set her father's house on fire claims discrimination when she's fired from the job... these are just some of the nine cases that the bloggers over at cracked.com believe are "insane" and show that the "U.S. Legal System is Screwed."

Officially, in public and on the record ... I have no comment on that conclusion. But I laughed my ass off at some of these write-ups.

Things are a bit slow this week on the crime and courts beats here in the South Bay. But in the area, there are lots of interesting things going on. Here are some noteworthy crime/court stories from the Los Angeles Times today:

• Judge orders chronically late lawyer jailed in Compton
• California will fight court ruling on medical marijuana
• Dismay greets D.A.'s report on string of missteps that led to killing
• Santa Monica teacher faces 9 more abuse charges
• Band teacher at Foshay Learning Center accused in child pornography case
• O.C. grand jury urges cities to enforce spay, neuter laws