By Jason W. Armstrong
Daily Journal Staff Writer
This article appears on Page 2

RIVERSIDE - Riverside County's supervising criminal court judge dismissed two felony cases for lack of available judges to hear them this week, raising to 17 the number of cases jurists in the calendar-clogged court have tossed since Jan. 2007.
Judge Helios J. Hernandez dismissed the two felonies involving assault and burglary charges on Monday, saying he had no available judges to handle them and the matters had exceeded statutory time limits to be heard.
Prosecutors immediately re-filed the cases. By law, they can re-file felonies once, but misdemeanors can be filed again only if prosecutors successfully appeal the dismissal.
The latest dismissals come as Riverside County judges struggle with a backlog of more than 1,000 criminal trials - one of the worst such logjams statewide. The county has 56 judges and 20 commissioners, but the state Judicial Council has said the county needs nearly double that number.
Assistant District Attorney Chuck Hughes said he disagrees with Hernandez's move. He said the judge had courtrooms to route the cases to on Friday, when Hernandez announced he had none that could accommodate them.
He said the judge granted defense attorneys' motions to dismiss on Monday because the cases had passed statutory deadlines.
According to Hughes, a family law judge in Indio had indicated he could take the cases. Riverside judges have said their policy is not to send criminal cases to probate, family law or juvenile jurists, though they do send them to judges hearing other types of civil matters.
Hughes' office is appealing that policy.
"We believe there were available courtrooms," the prosecutor said.
By law, misdemeanor cases must go to trial within 45 days of arraignment if the defendant is not in custody and within 30 days of arraignment if the defendant is in jail. Felony cases must be tried within 60 days of arraignment unless the defendant requests a time waiver.
Hernandez could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Riverside County was scheduled to receive 14 additional judges over the next two years under state legislation, but the positions were stalled because of a tight state budget.
On Tuesday, the county Board of Supervisors passed a resolution urging Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and state lawmakers to prioritize funding for new judges to help unclog the court.