Court sanctions those who did not appear for jury service

Los Angeles Superior Court Los Angeles County www.lasuperiorcourt.org Contact: Public Information Office 213-974-5227 Public Information Officer: Allan Parachini

NEWS    

RELEASE

July 7, 2009

EDITOR’S NOTE: No courtroom photography allowed unless prearranged with Northwest Supervising Judge Richard Kirschner (or Judge Clifford Klein for July 8,).

If summoned parties agree, they may be interviewed and photographed outside the courthouse following their court appearance.

 

Northwest District Jurors Ordered

To Appear at Sanctions Hearings

 van nuys— As part of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s coordinated program to encourage participation in jury service, Northwest District Supervising Judge Richard Kirschner will convene juror sanction hearings for LASC Northwest District citizens who did not respond to jury-service notices mailed on three separate occasions to their last-known address. (On Wednesday, July 8, Judge Clifford Klein will preside in Dept. A for Judge Kirschner.)

The sanction hearings begin at 1:30 p.m. on three Wednesdays during July – July 8, 22 and 29 and one Thursday, July 16 --  in Department A, Van Nuys East Courthouse, 6230 Sylmar Ave., Van Nuys 91401.  The jurors in the Northwest District to whom notices were mailed are among thousands who may face stiff fines, plus a new jury service assignment, for failure to respond to the jury-service notices.

“Sanctions are a last resort, but even at that late date, monetary sanctions may not be imposed if a person agrees to serve.  The Court’s priority is having the people More-More-More

Northwest District Sanctions

Page 2

July 7, 2009

 

cooperate with us to ensure that jury service is shared by all eligible citizens in Los Angeles County, as mandated by the Legislature,” said Presiding Judge Charles W. “Tim” McCoy Jr.

“The Court has no interest whatsoever in using these sanctions as a source of money,” said McCoy.

As a result of a 1999 court rule establishing One Trial Jury Service, jurors now summoned for jury duty need only be present at a courthouse for a single day of jury selection or one trial.  If jurors are not selected to be part of a jury – or a jury panel -- on the first day, jurors will be excused with their jury-duty obligation completed for at least 12 months.

However, if jurors are selected to be part of a jury -- or a jury panel -- they must serve until the trial is completed or they are excused by a bench officer.