A plan to speed up the disposition of criminal cases has been implemented in Lakewood and Shaker Heights Municipal Courts. Parma Municipal Court will be next to implement the project, followed by Cleveland. Eventually, there will be county-wide implementation.
The program speeds up the process by assigning defense counsel at the initial hearing, not at the arraignment date. The prosecutors also have earlier involvement in the case, and can begin discovery, start plea bargaining talks and possibly refer the case to a diversion program. In many cases, the defendant can waive a grand jury hearing and plead guilty immediately.
Attorney Fred Crosby, speaking on behalf of the defense bar, stated that the defense bar will only cooperate if they are granted open discovery. The defense attorneys want the prosecutors to give them police reports and witness statements at the start of the case, as is done in other counties. In order to know whether to strike a plea deal, the defense attorneys must have this information.
Other reforms include creating a centralized booking system and justice information system to be shared by all agencies. There will also be a videoconferencing network between the common pleas court, municipal courts and the municipal jails.
Source: Pilot Project to Streamline Court Cases Shows Success by James F. McCarty, The Plain Dealer, Mar. 7, 2007.
Also see our prior post: Cuyahoga Grand Jury System Criticized.