Elimination of Inefficiencies and Delays in Case Processing

What is the Elimination?

Elimination: the act of contemplating and refusing every option until only one is left. Superior and local courts deal with parts of the same case in many cases. When a matter is passed between the courts because the “lower” court level is not empowered to dispose of the whole case, the inevitable result is cost and delay. Preliminary proceedings are a prime example of criminal cases. Most criminal defendants, particularly in Los Angeles County, send their cases for a preliminary hearing transcript decision. A municipal court judge is currently conducting the preliminary hearing but is not permissible to sentence the accused because criminal sentences are not levied by the municipal court judge. The following better helps with the elimination of inefficiencies and delays in case processing.

Therefore, in order to dispose of such a case:

• preparation of ready transcript;
• the case has to move to the superior court;
• the defendant has to be at the superior court;
• A Superior court judge needs to read the transcript
• The judge will hand down the defendant’s sentence.

Since the judge of the municipal court has no authority to dispose of the case immediately after delivery of the transcript, the defendant is liable to delay in the final disposition of his case, a delay that is also costly for the trial. There seems to be little countervailing public benefit in having 2 (two) judges examine the same content, unless one assumes that sentencing is better than sentencing a municipal court judge who does not see live witnesses.

Multiple other “friction costs” arise from various trial court structures getting elements of a single criminal case. Defendants must always arrange in both courts and they must name twice as indigent lawyers. Motions in both courts can set to bail, to restrict pre-trial ads, and for discovery. If a defendant pleads not guilty to a crime because of insanity. Then that component of a municipal court case has to prosecute in the higher court.

There are also several points of inter-system conflict in civil cases. If a lawsuit is in a municipal court seeking less than 15,000$ (fifteen thousand USD) in damages, a cross-appeal for an amount over 15,000$ (fifteen thousand USD) allows the entire case to appeal to the Superior Court.

Therefore, a cross complaint with an exaggerated claim of harm will easily deprive the defendant of his option of the Municipal Court platform. Similar problems occur when an application for declaratory relief occurs, that the municipal court can’t fully grant.

Any manager who sees 2 (two) separate and fairly uncoordinated service delivery systems dealing with aspects of the same problem will undoubtedly want to combine the 2 (two) systems, in the absence of extremely important countervailing considerations.

This is only the little part of the problems on elimination of inefficiencies and delays in case processing.

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