The URL can be used to link to this page

Home My WebLink About2011 Village Court Annual Report.PDFC,F/4^,U 20tl ANNUAL REPORT VILLAGE OF CAYUGAHEIGHTS COURT Glenn G. Galbreath Village of Cayuga Heights Justice Patricia Kannus Village of Cayuga Heights Court Clerk ANNUAL REPORII OF GLENN G. GALBREATH, VII,LAGE JUSTICE The total number of cases is about the same as last year. .[n sum, it has been another relatively quiet year without any major trends or special crises. Following the summary of data immediately below is a short narrative about the data and other court activities for the year. The charts attached at the end contain more detailed court data. SUMMARY OF CASE ACTIVITY Case Tltpes Vehicle + Traffic Law (V+TL) (including parking) Penal Law ("criminal") Civil/Small Claims Total Cases Total Monies Collected Number of V+TL Trials 2010 20rrs04 506 It) 2 522 $38,197 8 515 $41,220 I4 Vehicle and Traffic Law (V+TL) Cases (See attached ohart.) Vehicle and traffic law matters account for the majority of the Court's cases, fines and surcharges collected and the Court Clerk's time. The total number of vehicle and traffic cases is virtually the same as last year. There was a notable drop in the alcohol related cases (Driving While Intoxicated (DWI), Driving With Ability Impaired (DWAI) and Aggravated DWI (ADWD). There were only 2 in20l1, as compared to 5 itr 2010, 2l in2009 and 35 in 2008. We hope this is a trend. The number of cases dismissed remained about the same. Most of the dismissals were done in the "interests ofjustice," either because there was no violation (e.g. driving without insurance and it was later shown to have been in effect at the time of the ticket) or the violation was minor and quickly remedied (e.g. a recently expired inspection or registration or minor equipment violation). Dismissals also can occur when the prosecution and defense enter into an agreement and then together ask and convince the court to agree to a plea bargain. Sometimes those plea bargains result in reducing or dismissing some of the charges in return for a guilty plea. In some courts, the pressure ofhigh case loads can be a significant incentive for accepting plea bargains ^ proposed by the defense and prosecution. Because the Village Couft's case numbers are notoverwhelming, case load pressure doers not play a role in my determining if a plea bargain isappropriate. There was a small increase in fines/surcharges collected - $41,2 26 in2011 as compared to$38,197 in 2010' The same was true of the number of v+TL trials -14 in 20l l and g in 2010. Parking (See attached chart.) {ltho18h parking tickets are part of the V+TL statistics, we identi$r them separately, becausethe administrative processing frequently is done by the Police Deparlment and the court clerkwithout the need of my interventi-on. Only occasionally do L,""d to araign a defendant or holdatrial for a parking ticket. Nevertheless, the court clerk must always process the paperworkand occasionally arrange for payment of the fine. The number of parking tickets did not change- 127 in201I;125 in2010 Penal Law (Criminal) Cases (See attached chart.) The Penal Law category includes infraotions, misdemeanor and felony cases, These are moreserious matters, take more time and create a formal criminal record for the defendant that stayswith him/her for a lifetime. Not counted here, even though many are also misdemeanors andfelonies, are some V+TL offenses, e.g. DWI, ADWI, ,."il"r, driving, aggravated unlicensedoperation, leaving the scene of an injury accident, etc. There *.r. only 6 penal Law convictionsin20rl as compared to 16 in 2010, 12 in2009,and 15 in 200g. Again, the trend seems to begoing in the right direction. one thing to note is that felonies, the most serious criminal cases (e.g. homicide, major sexualcrimes, robbery, etc), do not actually appear in our statistics. The Viilage Couft has preliminaryjurisdiction over felonigs_and regularly holds felony arraignments, bail hearings and preliminaryhearings to determine if the defendant should ue treta roritre grand jury, Then these felony casesare transferred to the Tompkins County Court where they can result in conviction or dismissal.Because our computer program collects data based on convictions and dismissals, and nottransferral of cases to the County Court,, the felony cases do not appear in our statistics. Vehicle and Traffic Trials (See attaclLed chart.) The number of trials reflects only those held_in v+TL casps. we had 14 in2011, which is higherthan in 2010 but still fairly low relative to what the Courl has done historically. We do notcollect data on the number of civil or Pernal Law trials notwithstanding their often being morelengthy. Again this is a function of the computer program. Civil and Small Claims Cases (See attached chart.) Although both the civil and small claimrs categories concern non-criminal and non-V+TL matters, the "Civil Docket" is technically different from "Small Claims.,, Both have the samemaximum monetary jurisdiction of $3,0b0, but the Small Claims cases use an expeditedprocedure that is simpler, less expensive and more accessible to non-lawyer parties. Civil andSmall claims cases make up the smallest r"*O_.1:tcases (3 in20r1) b; inilude subject matter of importance to the parties, e.g. landlord-tenant matters, consumer transactions, contract disputes over bills for professional services, etc. These cases tend to be time consuming and often result in longer trials and written opinions. The Court routinely refers the parties to the Community Dispute Resolution Center for mediation as soon as the case is filed with the court, but does not delay the court's proceedings while mediatiorn is being considered or used. Other activities We do not include in any of the data reports: late night arraignments, search warrant requests, pretrial hearings, status conferences, motion arguments, orders of protection, declarations of delinquency, felony preliminary hearings, hearings on violations of probation, or sentencings. All are time consuming and important activities, but collecting the data on them is not automatic by our computer. Patricia Kannus, the Court Clerk, attended clerkship refresher training sessions in 201i, I completed the required two days of Advanced Continuing Judicial Education Program for town and village justices. In addition, I made ten presentations on a variety of topics to new and experienced judges as part of the mandatory training for l.{ew York town and village justices. I also presented an all-day ethics workshop to New York State Administrative Law Judges, Our 2009 application to the Justice Court Assistance Program was granted for the maximum $30,000 award. This will play a major role in the new addition to the Village Hall and Court and will include: air conditioning and heating the court, add handicapped accessible bathrooms and a jury/conference/lunch room, and a duress alarm in the court office. These additions not only will improve the Court's service to our community, but will be available for most other village functions as well. Work has besun and should be completed this summer, Conclusion Should you have any questions or comments about the report, please contact me or the Court Clerk. Further, I remind everyone that the court sessions are held every Tuesday evening starting at 6:00 PM and the first Thursday of every month starting at 5:00 PM. The public in general, and you in particular, are invited to observe these sessions. Dated: Februarv 1.2012 Glenn G. Galbreath Village Justice Respectfully subm _A _ VEHICLE + TRAFFTC CASES (most are not criminal misdemeanors or felonies) OFF'FN.Ctr /coNVtCTtoNs 2007 2008 2009 2010 2_011 164 135 84 52 67 11 11 3114Ao1041661219491 10 Y 14 1?18 2 1 8 4 tl 0o3I15 r 1 5 1 6 2 8 0 2221714107 1 4 I 0 uninspected vehicle eoUtDment rrinlqtinn 6 6 z 2 36 17 10 o 1 seatbelt no Insurance ncll nhnno tl 4 z U 6 14 14 18 6 I 0 0 otner TOTAL CONVIETIONS @ @ M ffi 57 14tl 77 61 43Ath3oI 561 q10 375 276 271 3341 372 228 218 235 13 ZJ 10 10 124 551 125i - 1n 1028 979 681 5041 506 SCOFFLAWEp cASESGee betow)93 91 4t 75 511 RIALO ?a 31 22 8 14 ncp" rs an adjournment in contemplation of dismrssi ee t and.,,v JsoruE p dgr celtenl oelore lt can be issued .\cC,fTt1wlna4cac" a.- | 'r 'vev vv' 'sr e q utrrer ruarrl Iallr?o to appear or to pay. The court clerk notifiestheDep'tof MotorVeffi - -r-..-.-,, ,e e "vyu ,es \e/v/ 'te p d aftef SUSpenSi on PENAL LAW CASES (most are crimina! crim. mischief motor vehicle - unlawful use of a controlled substance reckless endanqerment unlawful imprisonment unlawful contact with a minor