The real people's court
Municipal courts dispense quick justice
To the average person, going to court stirs up images created by Hollywood on such series as "The People's Court" or "Law & Order."
But most people will never see a serious criminal trial from the defendant's seat.
Far more common, though, is for people to make their way through a local municipal court for a number of garden-variety offenses.
The area's largest municipal court - in fact, the largest in the state - is the Lake Country Municipal Court in Oconomowoc, which serves 16 communities: the villages of Sussex, Hartland, Lac La Belle, Nashotah, Dousman, Chenequa, Sullivan and Oconomowoc Lake; the City and Town of Oconomowoc; and the towns of Lisbon, Merton, Ixonia, Summit, Erin and Delafield.
Presided over by Judge Douglas Stern every Friday in Oconomowoc, the court handled about 14,500 cases in 2008.
While Stern brings a fatherly presence to its proceedings, local courts, like the village courts of Lannon and Pewaukee, tend to be more businesslike, dispatching their cases quickly and systematically.
These local courts handle everything from speeding tickets and other traffic violations to municipal citations such as disorderly conduct and underage drinking.
Lannon Village Court
Lannon Municipal Judge Laurie Dutcher said most of her cases are settled by plea agreements even before she gets there at pretrial conferences between the defendant and the prosecutor.
Dutcher holds court the third Monday of every month, arriving at 6:30 p.m. after the pretrial sessions are finished.
Most of her cases are traffic violations - speeding, running a stop sign or red light or first-time drunken driving offenses - or violations of village ordinances (the most common stem from complaints about a dog barking or the appearance of a neighbor's front yard).
While she accepts the plea deals "99 percent of the time," she said in an interview Monday, she does make exceptions.
"If our patrol officers catch someone going 30 or 40 miles an hour over the speed limit on our village streets - we had one man going 90 - I'm not going to amend the ticket down from six to four points," she said. "By now, however, the prosecutors know what I'll accept and what I won't."
Actual trials are "few and far between," she said.
Lake Country Municipal Court
Stern takes pride in his court. "There are 250 municipal courts in Wisconsin, and this is recognized as being the best or one of the best," he said at the start of a session recently.
Stern explained the procedure of entering a plea; if it's guilty or no contest, he proceeds to sentencing.
"Some will leave here happy, and some will leave here unhappy," he said.
Stern also addressed the need for defendants to show up for their court dates. "There are consequences for those who do not take this seriously," he said.
Stern was rather stern with one young woman, who was arrested for drunken driving. She had been stopped during what Stern called a "slow-speed chase" in Hartland. She had a blood alcohol content (BAC) of 0.116, well over the state's 0.08 limit.
Stern impressed upon the woman that she should have left her car at the bar, saying he was sure there were "people more than willing on the early morning hours of March 7 to get you, and you could get your car the next day. There is no law against drinking. You cannot combine drinking and driving," he said.
A young man stood before Stern for speeding. Asked why he was driving 35 mph over the limit in Hartland, the man said softly he was "late."
"You're going to have to slow down," Stern said. "You're close to losing your license."
Another man was stopped for expired registration and was found in possession of hydrocodone without a prescription. The man said he had a sore shoulder caused by a car accident.
"If you continue to have problems, you can go see a doctor," Stern said. "This is very addictive medicine," he added.
Stern asked the prosecutor how a stop for an expired registration led to the discovery of the pain medication. The prosecutor said the police officer noted the man was acting nervous.
"Every time I'm pulled over I'm nervous," said Stern, smiling and pacing. The prosecutor then noted from the police report the man's eyes were glassy, an indication he was under the influence. The man also had a warrant for his arrest from Tennessee, the prosecutor said.
A woman in her 20s was cited for a loud vehicle, though the City of Oconomowoc officer stopped her for driving 20 mph over the speed limit.
"Wow, the officer must have been in a very good mood," Stern noted. The woman, fined $124, left the courtroom smiling.
Three young men came in after being cited for underage drinking. The men had celebrated St. Patrick's Day, and all three were cited early the next day.
A young man who fell off a scooter was cited for underage drinking. The man had a BAC of 0.21.
"That will cause you to fall over on a scooter," Stern said. "That would cause you to fall over while walking."
Stern suggested the man get some help and told him to "think about it." The young man nodded his head he would.
Stern asked what he was doing, and the young man mumbled, "having fun."
Asked if he had learned a lesson, the man shrugged and said, "Stay where you are at. Don't leave the house. Don't drink, I guess."
Stern offered the man the chance to enter into the Stop and Think program. If he did so, Stern said he would not suspend his driver's license. The man said he would not enter the program, so Stern suspended the young man's driving privileges.
A third young man also turned down the program and had his license suspended for two months.
"A national drinking holiday," Stern said of St. Patrick's Day. "That's the definition of excess."
The young man said he had just gotten his license back.
"I can lead you to water but I can't make you drink it," Stern said. "Don't drink and you won't have any problems."
Another man was arrested for drunken driving on St. Patrick's Day.
"I wasn't thinking that day," the man told Stern. The judge told the man the drunken driving conviction will now "follow you the rest of your life."
The man, who had a BAC of 0.258, was involved in an accident in which he drove into a fence.
"I'm surprised you could walk, much less drive," Stern said. "You were three times the legal limit. Thankfully, you only hit a fence. … Thank a guardian angel on St. Patrick's Day."
Another woman left smiling after her appearance.
Stern asked why she was pulled over, jokingly asking, "Are you an adrenaline junkie? Every time I was pulled over there's been a hole in my stomach."
The woman explained her license plate had expired, but it was not her fault. "My husband was supposed to pay it," she said.
Stern dismissed the ticket. "Your husband owes you one," he said.
"Oh yeah," she said as she walked out.
Pewaukee Village Court
Held in the Village Hall meeting room, the court is presided over by Judge Melissa Murray. Unlike Stern, Murray dons the traditional judicial robe.
Murray gave a brief introduction to the proceedings, how the court works, options, and ended it with a now familiar phrase in public proceedings. The court handled 1,699 cases in 2009, of which 1,096 were traffic related.
"Please turn off your cell phones," she said, just as a phone rang. "We scripted that, didn't we?"
Several of the defendants reflected the times, being unemployed or underemployed and asking more time to pay the fines, which Murray granted.
A young man was fined $295 for vandalism and ordered to pay $513 in restitution to the property owner. The total cost of the restitution was more than $3,000, but the property owner's insurance company covered the cost. However, the insurance company wanted its money back from the young man.
"That would take a couple of years," the young man said, noting he now works 10 hours a week.
Murray decided not to order the full amount, warning the man the insurance company could still come after him for the money.
"Just keep chipping away at it," she said. As an incentive, if the man does not make the scheduled payments, he faces 11 days in jail.
A young woman who was cited for underage drinking received a little advice on how much drinking could hit her pocketbook in the future.
The woman was fined $298 for the first offense. Murray also told her what the second- and third-offense fines are: $378 and $504, respectively.
"Now you know what's in store, so just make sure it's your first and only," Murray said.
Staff writer Peter Abbott contributed to this report.
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