HomeMy WebLinkAboutVillage of Cayuga Heights Court 2016 Annual Report.PDF20r6
ANNUAL REPORT
VILLAGE OF
CAYUGAHEIGHTS COURT
Glenn G. Galbreath
Village of Cayuga Heights Justice
Patricia Kannus
Village of Cayuga Heights Court Clerk
ANNUAL REPORT OF
GLENN G. GALBREATH, VILLAGE JUSTICE
There was a decrease in the number of cases from 2015 to 2016. Fines collected proportionatgly
decreased.
Following the summary of data immediately below is a short narrative about the data and othercouft activities for the year. The charts attached at the end contain a little more detail and cover
a five year period.
Case T)tpes
Vehicle + Traffic Law (V+TL)
(including parking)
Penill/Criminal Law
Civil/Small Claims
Total Cases
Total Funds Collected
Nuntber of V+TL Trials
2015
1 )O)L)?v.
lf)
4
1 )))
$ 83,143
14
2016
1,017
16
0
1,033
$ 75,223
16
vehicle ancl rraffic Law (v+TL) cases (See attached chart.)
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 V+TL cases in2016(1,033) is almost 20Yolower than in 2015 (1,222)butis still more than twice what it was in 2011(506). Some of the cases with the most significant changes in numbers from 2015 ro 2016include: speeding (down fuom 92 to 69); failure to obey a traffic control device (up from 233 to257); andcell phones (down from 39 to l4).
Alcohol related driving offenses (driving with ability impaired - DWAI, driving whileintoxicated - DWI and aggravated driving while intoxicated - ADWD are impoiant cases andtheir numbers decreased from 23 in2015 to r7 in2016. That being said, we have had a widerange of numbers for these offenses during the past five years - from a low of 2 in2011 to thehigh in 2015 of 23 and now down to 17.
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The number of dismissed cases decreased from 2015 (695) to 555 in 2016. Almost all of these
cases were for minor equipment, inspection, and insurance card violations. Most of the
dismissals were done in the "interests ofjustice," either because there was no violation (e.g.
driving without insurance, but later it was shown that insurance actually was in effect at the time
of the ticke't) or the violation was minor and quickly remedied (e.g. recently expired inspection
or registration or minor equipment violations). Dismissals also "in o""u1. when the prosecution
and defense enter into an agreement and then together ask and convince me that justice would be
served by rny agreeing to their plea bargain as well. Sometimes plea bargains result in reducing
or dismissing some of the charges in return for a guilty plea on another .hurg.. In some courtsf
the pressure of high case loads can be a significant incentive for the judge to"accept a plea
bargain proposed by the defense and prosecution. Because the Village 6ourt's case numbers are
not overwhelming, case load pressure does not play arole in my determining if apleabargain is
appropriate or not.
Parking ([iee attached chart.)
Although parking tickets arc part of the v+TL statistics, we identifii them separately in the
attached chatt. The administrative processing frequently is done by the Police Department and
the Court Cilerk without the need of my intervention. Only occasionally do Lr""d to arraign a
defendant or hold atrial for a parking ticket. Nevertheless, the Court iterk must alway, pio"e*
the paperwork and occasionally affange for payment of the fine. The number of parking ii.k.t,
dropped 40a/o fromgI in2015 to 55 in 2016.
PenaVCriminal Cases (See attached chart.)
The Penal/Criminal Law category includes local law and state law infiactions, misdemeanors
and felonie:;. Generally, these are more serious than most V+TL matters and take more time.
Infractions rare the lowest level of criminal cases and the penalty is rarely more than a small fine.
Misdemeanors and felonies are more serious and create a formal criminal record for a defendant
that stays with himiher for a lifetime. Not counted in the Penal/Criminal Cases statistics, even
though many are also misdemeanors or felonies, are some of the more serious V+TL offenses,
e.g' DWI, ADWI, reckless driving, aggravatedunlicensed operation (AUO), leaving the scene of
an injury accident, etc. Those misdemeanor V+TL cases appear only in the V+TL statistics
charf. The rnost serious charges, felonies, do not appear in any of our statistics ataII. That is
because the computer program only identifies cases that are closed with a conviction or
dismissal in our court. Felony cases that arise in our court do not ultimately stay there and are
not "closed or dismissed" here. They eventually get transferred to the Tompkins County Court
and, thus, never show up in our computer statistics. For example, the murder case we had in thefall of 2014 brought me to court four times (three of which were in the middle of the night): to
rgview and sign a search warrant, to modi$, thatwanarfi. to arraign, assign counsel and remand
the defendant to jail, and to starl a preliminary hearing (which wai ultimately waived by the
defendant)' All of these activities occurred prior to our transferring the case to the county coufi,
yet none of the activities, or even the case itself, are reflected in our statistics.
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In2016 the number of our criminal law cases (16) was the same as it was in 2015 (16). At least
one quafiel of these cases were not especially serious, e.g. 3 involved people visiting Sunset
Park after hours and I for loud noise.
Vehicle and Traffic Trials (See attached chart.)
The number of trials reflects only those held for V+TL cases and not for the criminal or civilcases' Again this is a due to a limitation in our computer program's clata collection. We had l6V+TL trialrs in 2016 and 14 in20I5. This is still zuily tow relative to what the courl has done in
the past, e.g. in 1995 we had IZ4 V+TL trials.
Civil and fimall Claims Cases (See attached chart.)
Both the Civil and the Small Claims case categories concern non-criminal and non-V*TL
matters. They involve private disputes between people or organizations. They are not actions
brought by the government against a person for violation of the criminal law. And the "CivilDocket" is ttechnically different from "small Claims." Both have the same maximum monetaryjurisdiction of $3,000, but the Small Claims cases use an expedited procedur e thatis simpler,
less expenslve and more accessible to people without lawyers. Civil and Small Claims cases
make up the smallest number of cases (none in20I6 and only 4 rn2)I5),but include subject
matter of impoltance to the parties, e.g. landlord-tenant matters, evictions, consumer
transactions, contract disputes over bills for professional services, etc. These cases tend to be
time consurning and often result in longer trials and written opinions. The Courl routinely refers
the parties to the Community Dispute Resolution Center for mediation as soon as the .ur. i,filed with the court, but does not delay the court's proceedings while mediation is being
considered or used unless the parties agree on asking for a de1ay.
Other activities
Other activities that do not appear in our reports of data include: late night arraignments, review
of search and arrest watrants, pretrial hearings, status conferences, motion hearings/arguments,
orders of prrltection, declarations of delinquency, preliminary felony hearings, hearingi on
violations of probation, and sentencings. All are time consuming utra i-poiant activities, but
collecting the data on them is not automatic through our computer.
Patricia Kannus, the Court Clerk, attended clerkship refresher training sessions in2016. I
completed tJre required two days of Advanced Continuing Judicial Education program for town
and village justices.
Tompkins County received $150,000 shared services grant from New York State to scan older
court records of town and village courts. Ms. Kannus sent out our older court records and they
are being scanned. This project is taking a lot of time but eventually the paper records will bereturned, orS5anized and reviewed before we can apply to the State court ,yri"- for permission tohave the paprer copies of those records shredded. Thi. pto."rs may cause the Courl Clerk,s
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hours to inorease somewhat, but ultimately the records will be more easily accessed
electronically and we will save much storage space.
I was re-elected in March, 2016 for another four year term as the Village Justice.
Conclusiotl
Should you have any questions or comments, please contact me or the Court Clerk. Further, Iremind everyone that the court sessions are held every Tuesday evening starting at 6:00 pM and+L^ c-^+ -Tal^----- J ^-, t ,athe first Thursday of every month starting at 5:00 pM. fne public in gJneral, aid you inparticular, are invited to observe these sessions.
Dated: February 20,2011 Respectfully submitte d,,,-)///
Glenn G. Galbreath
Village Justice
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VEHICLE + TRAFFIC CASES fV+rL - most are not criminal misdemeanors or felonies)
CONVICT IONS
OereNSe tqeneraltffi 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 201speedingo/113 JZ h
spggqllg in schoolzone 11 18 2,5 2 lrstop sign 14tl 12 27 7 4fail to obey traff. control device 91 too zto J tv z,7J 25DWAI (driv. with abitity impaired)1 7 zv 1iDWI (driv. while intox. - misd. or felony)1 1 z zADW (aggravated DWI - misd. or felony)0 0 J 1 1failto keep right 1q 10 1 1
no passt!g zone/follow to closely 1 2 B 0AUO (aggrav. unlicens. oper. - misO. or tetonv)z 1 z 1 0 5unlicensed operation 7 12 9 42 19 13suspnd./revokd. license (misd. or felony)0 0 1 0 0unregistered vehicle z 1 0 14 4n
uninspected vehicle 1 L-|2 tz h
equipment violation o 13 12 12 a
1seatbelt'10 17 o 7no Insurance 0 0 0 0 0cell phone 43 o4 z.t Iotherqto27J44123
TOTAL CONVICTIONS 271 429 453 609 507 451
r rJ I AL UlutvilXttjtsL'235 372 329 695
ACD (see below)10 1B 10 4 11
PARKING TICKETS 127 147 167 88 YI AO
TOTAL V+TL OASES 4nA 959 1307 1202 101V
SCOFFLAWED CASES (see betowl F4 94 132 190 164
LIFTED LICENSE SUSPENSTON (see betow)7 7 1
V+TL TRIALS 14 19 14 '15 t4 16
r\uu ls an adjournment in contemplalion of dismissal. lt is used when the defendant aru
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nCoITIaWeQcases''arethoseWheread"f"nd"@'TheCourtcte*notirlesT
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rErrALrL,r1tililNAL LAw UAu@nfractions, state + local)
NSE 1 2014 2016
alcohol
1
assault
laA
bad check
DUrgrary
cflrn^co{lt(
1
crim. mischief
arim aa^- f^,
1 4
1 2 121crim. tar
d^^ ^'ni 2 z
4 1 z 1fireworks;_;-rugrilve
trand larcel
harassment
1
1
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1 1
1;z
men 1
uiltalwtut Ltse
vPsr I vut | ilt tg
1noise ordinance (new 2012)o 8 7 1park - after hours 1 14 11 11 4park - lawn 1
petite larceny 1 1
poss. of a controlled substance
7,public lewdness
ape - attempted
rec!!eqs endangerment
resisting arrest
scheme to defraud
seilil tg uut il.r()ilea suostancg
trespass 1 I 1 1unlawful imprisonment
unlawful contact with a minor
zoning violation
cther criminal 1
TOTAL CASES 37 JZ 16 to
CIVIL CASES
SMALL CLAIMS + REGULAR CN/IL
ALL FINES, FEHS * SUR
$101 ,365 $83,143