Community Corner

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich Discusses Reserve Attorneys and Freedom of Speech

Trutanich spoke of continuing budget squeezes, unpaid attorneys, graffiti and his respect for Steve Cooley, the current District Attorney of Los Angeles.

City Attorney Carmen Trutanich was at Wednesday evening to talk to the Sherman Oaks Homeowners Association.

As well as holding a Q&A session, Trutanich took time to talk about his "reserve city attorneys" program. The scheme is an attempt to train lawyers while clearing the City's backlog of criminal cases, freeing up paid employees for the backlog of misdemeanor files. According to Trutanich, the City of Los Angeles faces 70–75,000 such cases every year.

The attorneys are trained for six months, said Trutanich. They spend the first month in a classroom, learning how to act in court. After that, they go to courthouses.

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"They [reserve city attorneys] go to court every single day for the next five months," said Trutanich, "and they are in a court room just like a regular city attorney, except they don't get paid. And they try cases–to date they've tried around 300 cases and they've got an 80–85 pecent success rate. And they're costing us this much folks," Trutanich said, forming a figure zero with his hand.

Not only that, but, as part of the program, the attorneys agree to return to work for the City for 12 days every year for the next three years, according to Trutanich.

Find out what's happening in Sherman Oakswith free, real-time updates from Patch.

At the Q&A, a member of the Sherman Oaks Homeowners' Association asked whether Trutanich will run for District Attorney.

"Pick up the phone, dial the District Attorney's Office, and say 'Steve, please run for D.A. another time. Please run–L.A. County needs you," Trutanich responded.

He was also asked what he could do about the helicopters that seemed to fly regularly over Beverly Glen Blvd. and Coy Drive in Sherman Oaks; he defered this problem to the LAPD, saying that only if people complained could the police department–and then the City Attorney's Office–respond. 

One audience member raised the question of the graffiti artist Smear, and his right (or not) to tag.

"We're not telling him he can't do his art," said Trutanich. "What we're telling him is, his canvas is not the city of Los Angeles. Period. You wanna draw something, go down to the art store buy a sheet of canvas and draw to your heart's content. Go into your house–buy a house someplace–draw on the side of it as long as its legal."

He wrapped up his answer by saying "At the end of the day, he can tag in his studio, he can tag his canvas, he just can't on tag other peoples' property. And if you think that's freedom of speech, then you're crazy. I'm sorry. Nothing gives you the right to go up to my car and put your name on the side of it because you want to express yourself."

Watch the video to hear Trutanich speak about the graffiti artist Smear and freedom of speech.


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