Los Angeles Superior Court

Los Angeles County

www.lasuperiorcourt.org

Contact: Public Information Office 213-974-5227

Public Information Officer: Allan Parachini

NEWS

RELEASE

April 30, 2008

EDITOR’S NOTE: No courtroom photography allowed unless prearranged with Judge Raul A. Sahagun. IF summoned parties agree, they may be interviewed and photographed OUTSIDE the courthouse following their court appearance.

Southeast District Jurors Ordered

To Appear at Sanctions Hearings

norwalk— As part of the Los Angeles Superior Court’s coordinated program to encourage voluntary participation in jury service, Southeast District Assistant Supervising Judge Raul A. Sahagun will convene May juror sanction hearings for Southeast District citizens who did not respond to jury-service notices mailed on three separate occasions to their last known address.

The sanction hearings begin at 10 a.m. on four Tuesdays during May – May 6, 13, 20 and 27 – in Department C, third floor, Norwalk Courthouse, 12720 Norwalk Blvd. 90650. The jurors to whom notices were mailed in the Southeast District are among thousands who may face stiff fines, plus a new jury service assignment.

“Sanctions are a last resort, but even at that late date, monetary sanctions may not be imposed if a person agrees to serve. The Court’s priority is having the people

.More-More-More

Southeast District Sanctions

Page 2

April 30, 2008

cooperate with us to ensure that jury service is shared by all eligible citizens in Los Angeles County, as mandated by the Legislature,” said Presiding Judge J. Stephen Czuleger.

“The Court has no interest whatsoever in using these sanctions as a source of money,” said Czuleger.

Because a 1999 court rule established One Trial Jury Service, jurors now summoned for jury duty need only be present at a courthouse for a single day of jury selection. Although members of a jury panel may be asked to return the following day, all others in the jury assembly room will be excused at the end of the day with their jury duty obligation completed for at least 12 months.

If chosen for a jury however, a juror must serve until a decision is reached.

# # #