Why Are the Courts Dismissing so Many Cases?

The Riverside County Superior Court has dismissed over 950 cases since October 10, 2022, when the court stopped requesting waivers of speedy trial rights. The defendants in each of these cases demanded a jury trial, but no courtrooms were available to try the case before the “last day” for jury trial, as defined by California statute and Constitutional Rights to a Speedy Trial. For over 30 months, these rights had been suspended based on emergency orders issued by the California Judicial Council, but the courts ultimately determined that they could no longer ethically and legally seek emergency orders, considering that the courts were back to full operation and that trials had only, in actuality, been suspended for three months. Ultimately, Riverside County was one of the THE last counties to stop emergency continuances. When the orders finally ended, the courts and District Attorney’s office advised that there were a stunning 2,800 cases set for trial, with only around 18 trial courts available.

Prior to the covid-19 pandemic, about 2-3% of cases filed went to jury trial, and the remaining 97-98% were concluded via plea bargaining. During the pandemic, all of the neighboring counties in Southern California adjusted their plea-bargaining practices to responsibly close cases and prevent impossible backlogs in the face of diminished court resources. By doing so, these prosecutors and courts protected the rights of victims to receive restitution and an end to the process, but the Riverside County District Attorney refused to consider the victims or the defendants’ rights and maintained their historically impossible negotiating strategy. To be sure, nobody expects our prosecution to adopt the plea-bargaining practices of DA George Gascon in LA, but they took an extreme and unreasonable stance – they simply refused to negotiate in a way that would clear court backlogs, or in fact change plea bargaining practices at all. Indeed, most defense practitioners believe that their plea offers became worse during the pandemic, as defendants languished in jail without any reasonable chance of getting a courtroom for the jury trial.

By late 2020 and early 2021, most in the defense bar were frustrated by the developing situation. The Riverside County deputy prosecutors, especially in misdemeanors, may carry a caseload of 100 cases or more. Even prior to the pandemic, the only way to discuss or negotiate a case was to set the matter for trial, because the office didn’t officially assign a case to a deputy until it was set for trial. This practice caused an even greater backlog, as frustrated defense attorneys repeatedly attempted to discuss cases and present exculpatory evidence to non-interested Deputy District Attorneys, who could not have cared less about discussing the case beyond the initial offer because the case was not assigned to them.  Ultimately, setting the matters for trial was the only way to force them to reckon with actually putting these cases, many unwinnable for the prosecution, in front of a jury. In the pandemic world of unlimited prosecution continuances, any case no prosecutor felt like dealing with was just repeatedly continued, sometimes over dozens of court appearances.

By 2021 it was clear to most in the defense bar that an impossible backlog of trials was emerging, yet we all still worked to resolve our cases because these defendants deserve closure and to be able to move on from the allegations. Instead of resolutions, every morning, in the master trial calendars countywide, one or two cases might be assigned to a trial courtroom. The master calendar judges would then apply the emergency orders to the dozens of other cases set for trial that day, all which had a statutory last day for trial, pushing the last day out another 30 days. As previously stated, the backlog had increased to 2,800 cases set and ready for trial, with absolutely no real possibility of the cases getting a courtroom in the near future. Each day, more cases were added to the list of cases ready for jury trial, as the prosecutors continued to refuse to reasonably negotiate cases. It is unknown whether the backlog has decreased at all at this point, even after the dismissal of over 500 cases.

For their part, the Superior Court judges have attempted to resolve cases. They set up a new settlement court, which helped at first, but has now become a place where many defense attorneys are berated by the frustrated judge for simply doing their job. The courts have also sent out requests to retired judges across the state for assistance, but no judges will come to Riverside County.

The prosecutors that we have discussed the situation with have indicated no willingness to change. They are angry. In one particular case, the deputy district attorney advised, “I can’t be responsible for giving your client a sweetheart deal if he goes and kills someone later” (that particular client is a 78-year-old man, with no criminal history, charged with a first offense domestic violence, and he is now divorced from the alleged victim, and lives in an entirely different state). Another prosecutor told a colleague she “would rather burn the file” than offer a disturbing the peace infraction on a misdemeanor assault - the case was dismissed for lack of a trial courtroom. In yet another case, we offered a misdemeanor resolution, which would have allowed the “victim” to receive restitution, but the unreasonable deputy DA refused to accept the offer. The case was dismissed for a second time, the first dismissal having been two years prior due to the deputy DA not proving the case at the preliminary hearing. The result was that instead of an admission of guilt, as offered by these defendants, and restitution to the victims, the cases were dismissed.

The situation is exacerbated daily. The failure to negotiate has caused many, if not most, local attorneys to set every case for a speedy trial at arraignment (the defendant’s first appearance). Virtually all of the local private attorneys we know are simply demanding trials on every low-priority case. As this unfolds here, we wonder why it does not happen more. This system we have, comprised of mass prosecution, mass policing, and mass imprisonment, only stays in balance where 98% of defendants, with the encouragement of their attorneys, voluntarily give up their right to a speedy and public trial and enter into plea bargains with the prosecution.

It remains unclear how the situation will resolve. The District Attorney is telling his deputies to stand firm, the courts will not change course after dismissing over 950 cases, and the defense bar is getting easy dismissals. The system is irreparably broken, and dozens of cases are getting dismissed every day.

Rather than accept responsibility for their role in this crisis, the District Attorney and his management have become irrational and put out press releases charging the judges with misunderstanding the law and calling the dismissals illegal. The presiding judge sat for a television interview explaining why the dismissals are happening – I have never seen a judge on TV News explaining court decisions ever before. Line prosecutors have been quitting, no doubt eager to move anywhere less chaotic, judges are refusing to come and help, and the defense bar is doing their job in setting more and more cases for trial, due to the prosecutions failure to negotiate. The problem is only worsening.

Can I get My Case Dismissed?

If you demand a jury trial and there is no courtroom available before the legal deadline, your case will be dismissed. The court is mandated, by law, to give priority to certain types of cases – most notably serious and violent crimes involving sex crimes, domestic violence, and child abuse. Defendants who are awaiting trial in county jail also have priority over those defendants who are not in-custody. Lowest priority is misdemeanor non-violent crimes, like DUI, drug offenses, and shoplifting. Even with prioritizing these cases, some days court congestion has been so severe that serious or violent felony cases have been dismissed. For example, our firm had a residential burglary felony dismissed for lack of courtrooms. A handful of other serious cases have been dismissed.

Every attorney I speak with about the situation expects that hundreds or thousands more cases will be dismissed before the court backlog situation is resolved. There is no feasible end in sight, considering the prosecutor’s refusal to resolve cases.

If you want to discuss the possibility of getting a dismissal you should speak with a LOCAL attorney immediately. Only attorneys who focus exclusively on criminal defense in Riverside County will have the best and most current information on this quickly changing and evolving situation. The attorneys at Wilkerson & Mulligan have already obtained many dismissals in both misdemeanor and felony cases. We have briefed the speedy trial issues and personally observed the Superior Court judicial officers ruling on hundreds of dismissal motions. If you have a case that you believe can fall in this category, do not wait on a consult. While there is no guarantees in life, we will give you the best possible chance at resolving your case, one way or another.