Judges Pull Plug on Night Court Despite Pleas of Reiner, Supervisors

A panel of Superior Court judges voted unanimously Tuesday to halt a pilot night court program despite last-minute pleas from the chief prosecutor and the Board of Supervisors to keep it going.

The Los Angeles Superior Court Executive Committee considered the supervisors’ request last week that the three-court pilot program continue until its merits can be more thoroughly evaluated.

But the committee decided against the extension and voted to close the night courts on Dec. 1, reaffirming a decision it made in September.

Superior Court Presiding Judge Ricardo A. Torres has long endorsed the closure over the staunch opposition of Dist. Atty. Ira Reiner.

The night court experiment, which began in February, 1986, involved double staffing three downtown Superior courtrooms, in effect doubling the volume of business they handled in a typical day.

Reiner said prosecutors, defense attorneys, the Probation Department and the Sheriff’s Department all supported the continuation and expansion of night court as a means of easing the demand on court calendars.

He said the only branch of the legal system opposed to night court was the judges because “they don’t want to work evenings.”

However, the judges’ panel said night courts are less efficient because expert witnesses and other people vital to criminal cases often are available only during the day.

The executive committee also noted that the county currently has a shortage of 13 judges and four vacant criminal courtrooms in the Van Nuys Courthouse to which the night court judges would be reassigned.