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Home My WebLink About2005 Village Court Annual Report.PDF200s ANNUAL REPORT Vil,LAGE OF CAYUGAHEIGHTS COURT Glerur G. Galbreath Village of Cayuga Heights Justice Patricia Kannus Village of Cayuga Heights Court Clerk ANNUAL REPORT OF GLENN G. GALBREATH, VILLAGE JUSTICE The total number of cases is a little lower than last year. In2004we obtained a new dataprocessing computer program and it reports cases based on the charges on which the defendant was ultimately convicted or acquitted. In the past, the data was based on the charges at thebeginning of the case. The data for the last two years is probablymore reflective of the Court,scases, but makes comparisons to years before zoo+ alittie less useful. Following the summary of data immediatelybelow is a short narrative about the data and othercourt activities for the year. More detailed court data is attached at pages 6-g. Case Tltoes Vehicle * Traffic Law (V+TL) Parking Penal Law ("criminal") Civil/Small Claims Total Cases Total Monies Collected Number of t/+TL Trials 2004 982 r52 24 7 I 165 $ 64,615 22 2005 956 tt7 T9 10 tI02 $ 74,849 35 Vehicle and Traffic Cases (See attached chart atpage 6.) vehicle and traffic law matters account for the majority of the court,s cases, the fines andsurcharges collected, and the court clerk's time. 'ihe iotal number of vehicle and traffrccases isabout the same as last year. Tl-ttt were significant increases in soml tvryes of cases: speeding (including in the school zone),failure to obey a traffic control device, p-assing in a no purring ,orr", fuil*e io ke"p right, anddriving while using a cell phone. Also iher" 'iu, u 3u,nf in'the number of driving while abilityimpaired, the lower level ilcohol/driving charge. we had fewer cases involving: equipment_violations, parking tickets and not using a seatbelt.There was also alarge decrease inthe number of cases dismissed.r Parking (See attached chart at page 6.) Parking tickets are usually processed aclministratively by the police Department and the courtclerk without the need for my intervention. Thereforr, irrr p*ting ticket statistics are separatedfrom the other vehicle and traffic matters. only occasionally do I have to hold atialor evenreview a defendant's response to a parking ticket. Nevertheiess, the court clerk must alwaysprocess the paperwork and occasionall y arrange for payrnent of the fines. The number ofparking tickets dropped from 152 inZOOq to ln in)OOS. Penal Law (Criminal) Cases (See attached chart atpage 7.) The category of Penal Law cases is one of the most impo rtant andtime consuming. The penalLaw includes non-trafftc violations, misdemeuno., urrd felonies. of course, some the vehicleand Traffic Law cases can be just as seriious (e.g. the -iro"-.unors and felonies of: drivingwhile intoxicated, reckless driving, agglavated unlicensed operation, leaving the scene of aninjttry accident, etc')' Ther" *"t. tg-P-.nal Law convictions in 2005 as compare d,to 24 in2004,37 in2003' and 45 in2002. This is a hopeful trend, but the data is probably too limited to bestatistically signifi cant. ' Although there was a 20o/o dropin the number of cases dismissed (42r in2004,33g in2005), they still are large portion of the vehicle and traffic cases. probably gL-gs%of thedismissals were charges of-expired insperction or registration, not having a driver,s license orinsurance card in the vehicle ut ttt. time of the stop,-or minor equipment violations. If thedefendant presented proof to the court that s/he u.tuuilv rtuo valid insurance and driver's licensewhen stopped, or her/his registration or inspectio" o"rv r".*tly expired and was quicklyrenewed, or the equipment violation *u. mino, and immediately corrected, then the Courtfrequently dismissed the charge with a waming. Thus, the driver *u, ,pur.Ju *orr",ury penalty,and the public was protected by bringing the defendant into full compliance with ttr"se t"gatrequirements. Civil/Small Claims Cases (See attachLed chart at page g.) Allho.ugl bothcategories deal with non-criminal, i.e civil matters, the ,,civil Docket,, istechnically different from Small claims cases. Both have the same monetary jurisdiction of$3'000, but the latter- uses an expedited procedure and is more ',cons,rm". ailrraly.,, Thus, wesee very few cases filed in the "Civil" r;ategory. Civil and small claims cases make up thesmallest number of cases but include subjit ryg1er orimnortance, e.g. landlord-tenant matters,consumer transactions, contract disputes over bills for professiorrui ."lrvires, etc. These casestend to be very time consuming and often result in longer trials and *ritt.;;;inlon.. The courtroutinely refers these litigants io the community Disprite Resolution center for mediation, butdoes not delay the co^urt proceedings while.the """-riiG"ti"n altemative is being considered orused' The number of these cases typicrally is between d-: .u.n year, but we had l0 in 2005. @ (See attached chart at page g.) The total fines and surcharges collectecl increased even though the number of cases went downslightly. rn2004 we collected $ 64,615, but in 2005 itrose to $74.g4g. Vehicle and Traffic Trials (See attached chart atpage 6.) The number of trials reflects only those held in vehicle and traffic law cases. We had 35 in 2005which is an increase from the 22 in2004. we have not bothered to collect data on the number ofcivil or Penal Law trials notwithstanding their often being lengthy events. Other activities we do not include in any of the data reprofis: late night arraignments, search warrant requests,pretrial hearings, status conferences, motion urgu-.itr, orJ.r. of protection, declarations ofdelinquency, revocations of probation, or sentencings. All these activities are time consumingand critical Court activities. I completed the require{ 1*o one-day sessions of the Advanced continuing Judicial EducationProgram for town and village justices. I actually presented the session on Judicial Ethics.Patricia Kannus, the Court Clerk also attended clerkship refresher training sessions in 2005. s Upgrade we applied for, and received two new tape recorders for use in hearings and trials when we thinkthere may be a need for a verbatim record. These were secured through a Justice CourtAssistance ProgramGrant sponsored by the State of New york. This is the court,s thirdsuccessful grant application. our last grant allowed us to purchase a new computer, and we recently finished the back-loadingofdata from our old open cuies. Conclusion should you have any questions or comments about the report, please contact me or the Courtclerk' Further, I remind everyone that the court sessions are held every Tuesday evening at 6:00PM and every second.Thut.duy of every month at 5:00 PM. The public in general and you, inparticular, are invited to observe these sessions. Dated: March 14,2006 Respectfully submitted,atu Glenn G. Galbreath Village Justice VEHICLE AND TRAFFIC MATTERS OFFENSE speeding speeding in schoolzone stop sign fail to obey traffic control device DWI DWAI failto keep right no passing zone unlicensed operation aggravated unlicensed operation suspended/revoked license unregistered vehicle uninspected vehicle equipment violation seatbelt violation no insurance cell phone use license plate violation other Total Convictions Total Dismissed ACD for V+TL Casesl TotalV+TL Gases V+TL Trials Parking Tickets Scofflawed Cases2 Lifted License Suspension 1 24 4 1 5 50 31 37 1 15 15 721 2001 435 27 92 10 2 11 1 23 5 27 51 14 23 5 2002 311 14 208 1 3 20032 148 10 209 3 1 16 4 17 27 32 30 2004 174 5 B 178 2 3 5 11 982 22 152 2005 204 20 7 200 2 o 16 10 12 2 33 20 51 4 29 o 24 57 1I 33 23 41 43 2 13 551 421 10 601 461 731 592 555 I 611 338 7 956 35 117 15 1338 53 13 1289 38 9 1071 16 192 356 182 202 149 399 84 186 14 194 I ACD is an adjournment in contemplation of dismissal. It is used when the defendant and prosecutor/police agree thatthe penalty imposed by a conviction is disproportio*t".to the offense and theyagree to conditions which if met by the defendant ilollt#ffiiltater dismissal of the charge' itre oerenoant and the pror..utoi tt.n have to ,..r.. tn.lurtice,s agreement before 2 "scofflawed cases" are those where a defendant failed to appear on a ticket-or failed to pay the fine/surcharge. Thecourt clerk notifies the Department of Motor vehicle yrr.crr i1 t"." i"rp."arlhe defendant,s driver,s license until the defendant tr#tlt #:ffiiT,?r".t:lJ:"ttffius cases' the court also has tt . option'oiis.uing un arrest or bench wanant. Starting in 2004 PENAL LAW CASES OFFENSE alcohol alcohol in the park assault aggravated harassment bad checks burglary criminal contempt criminal impersonation criminal mischief criminal possession of forged instrument criminal possession of stolen property criminal possession of a weapon- - criminal tampering dog ordinance disorderly conduct fireworks fugitive grand larceny harassment illegaldumping menacing motor vehicle - unlawful use menacing open burning park - after hours park - lawn petit larceny possession of controlled substance public lewdness rape - attempted reckless endangerment resisting arrest scheme to defraud sell controlled substance trespassing unlawful imprisonment unlaMul contact w/ minor zoning other criminal Total 2001 22 2002 1 1 4 1 1 1 3 2 2 1 4 1 2003 2 7 2004 2 2005 10 5 2 2 3 1 4 6 4 1 2 9 2 3 1 1 5 45 ,| I 192437 CTVI/SMALL CLAIMS CASES CIVI CASES .2005 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 1t3s10 ALL FINES' FEES AND SURCHARGES - 2005 The figures below include the total monies collected for all fines, parking fines, civil fees, andmandatory surcharges. ..LLECTED $ #t 6 3lff?e #qo ffir, #0, MONIES OWED BY DEFENDANTS AT YEAR END $ 16,425 t4,330 15,225 15,495 13,455 F: \,JUSTICE\Ann-Rpts\Ann_rep_O5.wpd g