Dismissal of machete-attack case due to judge shortage was proper, appeals court says

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Dismissal of machete-attack case due to judge…

Criminal Justice Dismissal of machete-attack case due to judge shortage was proper, appeals court says

By Debra Cassens Weiss

July 14, 2023, 9:00 am CDT

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A California appeals court has upheld a judge’s decision to dismiss a felony assault charge for an alleged machete attack when there was no courtroom available to try the case.

The California Court of Appeal, Fourth Appellate District, upheld the October 2022 decision to toss the charge against Jose Luis Tapia in a July 11 opinion. Law360 had coverage.

Judge John M. Monterosso of Riverside County had dismissed the case under the state’s speedy trial act, saying the inability to try the case was “fairly attributable” to the state legislature’s failure to provide enough funds for judges.

Tapia was first charged in September 2020, but the charges were dropped at the request of the district attorney, who refiled the charges in February 2021, and Tapia was arraigned in March 2021. After 12 continuances, the last day for Tapia’s case to be heard under the state’s speedy trial guidelines was Oct. 26, 2022. Monterosso granted the dismissal the next day.

The appeals court said there was “no dispute” that the county court has a “chronic backlog because of a lack of sufficient judges.”

There was also no dispute that the COVID-19 pandemic severely disrupted court operations, justifying some continuances in Tapia’s case, the appeals court said.

But Monterosso did not err when he said the court’s current backlog was not caused by the pandemic to the extent that would justify another continuance, the appeals court said.

The superior court in Riverside County has 3.7 judicial officers per 100,000 residents, compared to a statewide average of 11.4 judicial officers per 100,000 residents, the appeals court said. Depending on the metric, the superior court is the second- or third-most underfunded trial court in California.

Monterosso dismissed 44 more cases on speedy-trial grounds the same day he tossed Tapia’s case. Other Riverside County judges were also dismissing cases in October 2022, leading to a total of 350 dismissed criminal court cases by the end of the month, according to a press release by the Riverside County District Attorney’s office.

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