Washoe County courts on track for more jury trials

Monday, May 29, 2000 | 11:14 a.m.

"People across the country have often lost faith in the justice system because in many places it takes five years to get to trial," said Washoe District Judge Janet Berry, chief judge of the district.

"We are working so cooperatively that we can get a case to trial before it's a year old. Sometimes I'm trying cases that are only 7 to 9 months old.

"That's extraordinarily fast for anywhere in the United States."

Last year there were 92 jury trials in Washoe District Court. That compares with 65 so far this year with more than six months to go.

"All of us believe that a major factor contributing to this is the court's enactment of a no-bump policy," said District Judge Jim Hardesty.

It is customary for judges to set two or more cases for trial on the same day because they know that most cases settle before trial.

But sometimes when both cases are ready to go to trial, a judge "bumps," or postpones one of the cases. Because of other cases already scheduled, one postponed may not come to trial for several months.

Under the new policy, a judge who does not have a trial will take on the first judge's extra case.

"If all my cases settle for next week and maybe Judge (Brent) Adams has two or more that are going to trial, I will accept one of them," said Judge Steve Elliott.

The number of jury trials last year was 40 less than in 1998, when 132 were held.

Judges attributed that decline to an emphasis on early resolution of cases. But they said it's hard to predict whether the current upward trend will continue or peak and decline.

"Even if this is a spike, we're still going to try more than we did last year," Hardesty said.