Criminal
Continued from page 13 due to the COVID-19 virus. Through June of this year, we conducted 1,413 arraignments. Our small claims, unlawful detainers and jury trials decreased substantially as the result of Supreme Court orders suspending these proceedings again because of pandemic protocols. By August we were operating at full capacity, reducing our backlog of pending matters. Effective August 24th, Judge Wade Rhyne returned to Pittsburg, joining Judges Leonard Marquez and Wendy Coats and our new Commissioner Gina Dashman.
The Richmond branch court update, by Supervising Judge Christopher Bowen, includes the following:
Despite being “one judge down,” Richmond has held its own
throughout 2020, keeping up with a busy schedule of jury trials, preliminary hearings, misdemeanor arraignments, domestic violence and civil harassment restraining order hearings, and small claims/ traffic/unlawful detainer matters. The bench lineup includes Judges John Devine, Julia Campins, and Christopher Bowen and Commissioner Jennifer Lee. During court closure, Richmond successfully implemented virtual misdemeanor pretrial and changeof-plea calendars that are popular with attorneys and litigants alike. As always, the staff in Richmond turned in a nearly flawless performance in setting (and re-setting) hundreds of civil and criminal matters during and after court closure. The challenges facing our court, our community, and our world notwithstanding, the George D. Carroll Courthouse continues to be a place where staff, attorneys, parties, jurors, other members of the
public and bench officers love to be!
As to the Martinez calendars
In January, 2021, a big change will be coming to Criminal in the form of Direct Calendar. Judge Hardie, currently Assistant Presiding Judge, discusses that change in her article in this issue. Relating back to the partial court closure, we need to extend a special thanks to all the judges who helped the court run as well as could be expected in a time of pandemic. As to our justice partners, thanks in the Emergency Court go to Brooks Osborne and Brandon Banks from the Public Defender’s office, Dominique Yancy from the District Attorney’s office, and Anthony Ashe, who handled the majority of matters for the Conflicts Panel. The Sheriff’s Department provided extra staffing to help move the cases along and we could not have operated as smoothly as we did without their assistance. The same is true for the Virtual Court, which included the efforts of Chris Walpole from the District Attorney’s office, Rebecca Brachman of the Public Defender’s office, and Bill Green from the Conflicts Panel. We could not have run these departments without the help of CEO Kate Bieker, Managers Diana Ghirardo and Sarah Passot, and all the other clerks who worked very hard in the most difficult time period we have seen in the court’s history. Here’s hoping that next year, at this time, we’ll be back to reporting on case filings, assignments, and trial statistics. In the interim, stay healthy and safe!
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NOVEMBER 2020