Swift justice?
March 3, 2008
Because of my must-learn-everything-the-hard-way son, I have had the opportunity to watch the Pierce County justice system crawl along at an unbelievably slow pace.
It seems now that I am not the only one who thinks things take longer than they should. From the Tribune:
Pierce County Superior Court judges to target case backlogProposal offers solutions after audit shows delays in Superior Court systemADAM LYNN; adam.lynn@thenewstribune.comPublished: February 28th, 2008 01:00 AM | Updated: February 28th, 2008 06:26 AMStung by an audit that said they move too slowly, Pierce County’s Superior Court judges are implementing changes they hope will reduce a backlog of cases clogging the county’s criminal justice system.
Upside of suspects staying in county while they await trial: much of their sentence time is already served by the time they are found guilty.
Downside: over-crowded facilities and overtime for the corrections staff.
I thought you would be interested to see the time-line of my kid’s case as an example. (Remember, we have suspects waive their right to a speedy trial because no one (prosecution or defense) is ready to deal with the case.)
For clarification, CONTINUED means that what ever was supposed to happen didn’t because someone (prosecution or defense) wasn’t ready or wasn’t available. After 16 months, I am sure the prosecution and the defense were glad to see the end of this case!
| 07/21/2006 09:00 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | CASE ISSUED - BW | BENCH WARRANT SERVED |
| 08/16/2006 01:30 PM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | ARRAIGNMENT - BENCH WARRANT | ARRAIGNED |
| 08/31/2006 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE | CONTINUED |
| 09/14/2006 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE | CONTINUED |
| 09/21/2006 01:00 PM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | PRE-TRIAL CONFERENCE | HELD |
| 10/04/2006 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | CONTINUANCE | HELD |
| 10/05/2006 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | JURY TRIAL | CONTINUED |
| 12/14/2006 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | OMNIBUS HEARING | CONTINUED |
| 01/10/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | OMNIBUS HEARING | CONTINUED |
| 01/18/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | OMNIBUS HEARING | HELD |
| 02/08/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | JURY TRIAL | CONTINUED |
| 02/28/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | CONTINUANCE | HELD |
| 03/01/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | JURY TRIAL | CONTINUED |
| 03/19/2007 09:00 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | PLEA DATE | HELD |
| 04/02/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | OMNIBUS HEARING | CANCELLED |
| 04/30/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | JURY TRIAL | CANCELLED |
| 04/30/2007 01:30 PM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
| 06/19/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
| 09/06/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
| 10/08/2007 08:30 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION- PRESIDING JUDGE | CDPJ | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
| 10/23/2007 09:00 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
| 10/26/2007 11:00 AM | BEVERLY G. GRANT | 18 | SENTENCING DATE | HELD |
| 11/27/2007 09:00 AM | CRIMINAL DIVISION 1 | CD1 | SENTENCING DATE | CONTINUED |
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