Justice delayed: Leaders resolve to reduce murder case pileup

Stanislaus County officials and criminal justice leaders came away from their first huddle optimistic about tackling a troubling backlog of murder cases – perhaps the worst in the state – even if they don’t yet know what’s causing it or how to fix it.

“I see a huge level of cooperation,” said Bill O’Brien, a county supervisor, of last week’s meeting whose participants included top judges, court administrators, District Attorney Birgit Fladager and Public Defender Tim Bazar.

“I thought it was a very good initial step to ensure open dialogue,” Fladager agreed, declaring herself “quite pleased” at participants’ “commitment to work together.”

They gathered to address an unusual glut of murder cases building in recent years. A Modesto Bee analysis of 51 California counties found that the pileup here, adjusted for population, is about three times the average elsewhere in the state, costing local taxpayers more than $5 million a year to house in jail defendants awaiting trial, some more than eight years.

Various players have blamed:

▪ Fladager’s conservative approach, resulting in fewer opportunities for plea bargains

▪ Some judges shying away from trials while quickly granting continuances, usually requested by the defense

▪ A 2005 change in the way cases are assigned by administrators, which seemed to coincide with an uptick in murder cases over the past decade

▪ The uncommon practice, apparently peculiar to this county, of prosecutors and defense attorneys not appearing at arraignments, making quick resolutions of minor cases impossible and adding to the overall burden

Delays have been excruciating for some families of murder victims and defendants alike.

Fingers were not pointed at the meeting, participants said. Rather, they agreed first to compile numbers and regroup in January to discuss findings.

“Sometimes you need to validate perceptions with actual data and see what that’s telling us,” said Stan Risen, the county’s chief executive officer.

For example, Bazar said officials want to examine a rise in costs for indigent defense, or how taxes help people too poor to defend themselves. The county expects to pay $4.7 million in such costs in the current fiscal year – a 52 percent rise in three years.

“We want to see if we can figure out what drives certain costs,” said Rebecca Fleming, executive officer for Stanislaus Superior Court.

County Supervisor Terry Withrow said facts should help to dispel innuendo. More important, he said, is getting everyone in one room to establish the common goal of increasing efficiency.

“It goes back to when the courts were taken over by the state,” he said of the shift away from county funding and control. “Unfortunately, some walls went up and this is the start of bringing those communications back. Once we learn to all trust each other, then we can work on making it work more efficiently.”

This story was originally published November 5, 2015 at 3:07 PM with the headline "Justice delayed: Leaders resolve to reduce murder case pileup."