Legal News

Riverside County drops more felony cases for lack of judges

By Jason Siegel

Two more felony cases were dismissed by Riverside County Superior Court due to lack of judges. One was an assault case, the other for burglary. They were immediately refiled by prosecutors. Seventeen cases were tossed by the county since January 2007, the Associated Press reported.

The AP reported that a tight state budget is keeping the county from getting the 14 judges scheduled to be added in the next two years.

Last month, Chief Deputy District Attorney Michael Rushton and Riverside County Superior Court Judge Helios J. Hernandez II exchanged words before two cases - a misdemeanor DUI  and a felony three-strike domestic violence case - were dismissed, the Press-Enterprise reported. Rushton said he believed courtrooms were available to take the case and avoid dismissal while Hernandez said those courts could not and said "You are making an assumption judges are doing nothing."

Rushton replied he was not suggesting that judges weren't doing anything but "whatever they were doing was not as important as taking a case to avoid a dismissal." 

Full post as published by Legal Pad | LA on April 25, 2008 (boomark / email).