Misdemeanor Trial Unit

Coordinator: Deputy District Attorney Shawn Spaulding
(415) 473-6450

The Misdemeanor Trial Team handles all adult non-felony cases prosecuted by the District Attorney, with the exception of the Family Violence caseload. Every week at least two of these team members review and prepare for trial at least five to ten cases. From a weekly Master Calendar call the Supervising Criminal Judge will assign the cases ready for trial to one or more of the criminal vertical felony departments. Most likely the starting day for trial will be Monday or Tuesday. Which felony department tapped for a misdemeanor trial assignment will depend on the availability of the felony panel judge. Generally, at least one of the calendared misdemeanor cases will commence. Occasionally there will not be a judge available to take a misdemeanor jury trial, while on other weeks there could be two or three cases assigned out for trial. The exact number and the exact timing of the commencement of these cases are often not known in advance

At the present time, based on the size of the caseload (approximately seven times the felony caseload) strict vertical prosecution is not possible. The team leader for this unit is responsible for identifying those misdemeanor cases that have special, more complex legal issues, or a large number of witnesses and assign that particular case to a single attorney well in advance of the trial date. These preassigned cases will then benefit from advance planning and preparation

Members of this team cover on a daily basis several court calendars that handle the day-to-day activities associated with the misdemeanor caseload. Included in this array of calendar appearances is a weekly "motions" calendar where the more lengthy pretrial hearings will take place. Often this weekly motion calendar requires witnesses to be called. Almost always the only witnesses needed for these pretrial motions are the law enforcement officers involved in the case. Victims and/or civilian witnesses are rarely needed for these appearances. If you receive a subpoena and are unsure about the hearing and/or trial associated with that subpoena you may contact our office and ask for the On Duty Inspector.

Often times the Misdemeanor Trial Team members will work closely with the local police agency for final trial preparation. It is not uncommon for Misdemeanor Trial members to investigate these cases along side their law enforcement partners. If you are contacted by members of our office do not hesitate asking for identification. All District Attorney personnel (attorneys and inspectors) as well as the local law enforcement partners all have official photo identification cards and can readily provide this identification to you. Anyone wanting to contact you should be able to provide satisfactory identification. If you have any doubts about who are speaking to do not hesitate in calling this office and asking for the On Duty Inspector. Our On Duty Inspector can assist in identifying the individual attempting to interview you.

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