Sanction hearings for jurors

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

NEWS    

RELEASE

 

Feb. 4, 2010

 

EDITOR’S NOTE: No courtroom photography is allowed unless prearranged with  Supervising Judge Elihu M. Berle.  IF summoned parties agree, they may be interviewed and photographed OUTSIDE the courthouse following their court appearance.

 

Central District Jurors Ordered

To Appear for Sanction Hearings

 

Los Angeles — As part of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s coordinated program to encourage voluntary participation in jury service, the Civil Department’s

Supervising Judge Elihu M. Berle will convene juror sanction hearings for Central Judicial District citizens who did not respond to jury-service notices mailed on three separate occasions to their last known address.

The sanction hearings begin at 9:30 a.m. on three Tuesdays during February – Feb. 9, 16 and 23 -- in Department 1, fifth floor, Room 534, Stanley Mosk Courthouse, 111 N. Hill St., 90012. The jurors to whom notices were mailed in the Central Judicial District are among thousands who may face stiff fines, plus a new jury service assignment.

“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                            

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. McCoy Jr.

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

Because a 1999 court rule established 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.  Although members of a jury panel may be asked to return the following day, all others in the jury assembly room will be excused at the end of the day with their jury duty obligation completed for at least 12 months.

If chosen for a jury, however, a juror must serve until the case is completed.