California’s Financial Crisis is hitting the local court system……….HARD.

In Los Angeles County 56 courts have been closed due to a lack of money. Riverside is next. In the Indio court, some cases have been sent to downtown Riverside or even Orange County because there were no courtrooms available. This affects a lawyer and client’s decision of whether it is worthwhile to go to trial. Now you and all your witnesses will have to travel to downtown Riverside (or Blythe) if the matter is transferred there. Remember all your witnesses and experts from Palm Desert will be charging you to drive to and from Riverside. Obviously this will increase the costs of litigating a case… be it civil or criminal.
It is more difficult and costly today than ever before to litigate a case. We arrived at Department 2-K at 9 a.m. on Aug 5, 2012 only to find the doors locked. That Department is now passing out financial disclosure/declaration forms to be filled out by all 8:30 am arraignment defendants in order to determine if they are eligible for the appointment of the Public Defender. In order to make this process work more efficiently, 2-K has decided to let the 8:30 am defendants and attorneys inside the courtroom and then LOCK the doors. So, if you have a matter in Department 2K and you are not there at 8:30 am, you may be locked out until they re-open the courtroom. This will force us all to show up to court “on time.” There is no exception allowed whether it is the defendant or attorney arguing they could not find a parking space or because the attorney had another matter in another courtroom.
To further expedite and address the courts financial issues, many courts are limiting continuances so that cases are moved through the system more rapidly.
In the past, a Defense attorney could walk in and fill out a form for a continuance or address the court requesting same. There is now a list generated and if your case is on that list, you cannot submit a 1050 Continuance form. You will need to have the judge call the case and set it for MSC (Mandatory Settlement Conference and then Trial). However we normally do NOT want to set a case for trial. This is because the DA focuses on that case and may see things that suggest a more severe sentence or prior criminal activity that the DA was not aware of on the initial reading of the report.
The Judge does not mind your defense attorney requesting a 977 Motion to appear on behalf of the defendant at the MSC hearing, but on that day, there has to be plea or your case has to be sent out to Dept 3M with a trial date.
Riverside County leads the State of California in Drunk Driving accidents and fatalities as a result of the city’s massive population and expansive highway system, which includes I-10, I-15, I-215, US-95, US-99, SR-60, SR-62, SR-71, SR-74, SR-78, SR-79, SR-86, SR-91, SR-111, SR-177, and SR-195.
In addition, the National Highway and Transportation Association found that 34% of all alcohol-related car crashes that resulted in fatalities were caused by drivers between the ages of 21 and 24. Because Riverside County has a number of college campuses and universities, the Riverside Sheriffs and CHP police officers are on constant alert to safeguard against drunk drivers.
In 2012, if you got arrested and charged with a DUI or you were in an auto accident and you do not retain an experienced Coachella Valley DUI or Accident lawyer, you are complicating an already complicated situation that is getting more challenging and more expensive to litigate every month.