Monday, December 3, 2001
Page 7
PERSONALITY PROFILE—
Martin Wegman, Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner
Once Reluctant to Take the Post, Commissioner Now Takes Pride in Helping People in Role of Presiding Over Van Nuys
Community Court
By KIMBERLY EDDS, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Superior Court Commissioner Martin Wegman is not a volunteer.
You will never find him standing in the very front or the very back of a crowd, but always in the middle, just in case someone might try to volunteer him.
“I never volunteered for anything in my life,” Wegman says.
But even that tactic, held over from his Army days, didn’t spare Wegman from being singled out by Superior Court North West District Supervising Judge Paul Gutman for a new responsibility he didn’t want —presiding over the Van Nuys Community Court.
“I drafted him,” Gutman says.
What Gutman needed was a bench officer to replace Commissioner Mitchell Block.
A gung-ho campaigner for the fledging pilot program, Block was reassigned by Gutman at the end of June to tend to his Drug Court and Proposition 36 duties.
What Gutman got was a reluctant Wegman who just didn’t think he was cut out for the job.
“I didn’t want to do it,” Wegman admits. “It sounded like a whole bunch of social work.”
Alternative Approach
The Van Nuys Community Court, a pilot project which opened its doors May 1, takes an alternative approach to dealing with low-level misdemeanor quality of life crimes: public drinking, graffiti, loitering. Community Court defendants are given social service and community service requirements to complete in exchange for the charges being dropped. Every case, and every defendant, must be dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
Not exactly the kind of thing Wegman had in mind, but Gutman wouldn’t take no for an answer.
“Usually the best person for the job is someone who doesn’t want to do it,” Gutman asserts.
And Wegman has the best combination for the job: a background in the Public Defender’s Office and an unconventional judicial temperament. A German native, Wegman served as a deputy public defender for 13 years before being elected commissioner in 1989.
“He’s people smart and he’s street smart,” Gutman says.
And so with an eager Gutman and a not so eager commissioner, the learning process began for Wegman. And Wegman admits he had everything to learn.
“It’s learning as you go,” Wegman explains. “It’s on-the-job training.”
Big Lesson
While he had to learn everything about how Community Court works from the ground up, Wegman says one of the biggest lessons he learned is how he sees his job on the bench.
“I thought I had given up social work when I left the Public Defender’s Office,” the self-described cynic explains. “I didn’t see a judge as being involved in social work.”
Since coming to the court in July, Wegman has witnessed things he says have changed his attitude. He has seen an alcoholic estranged from his family pick himself off the street, dry out and return to his former life as a teacher.
He’s seen a prostitute reap the benefits of job training so that she no longer has to walk the streets to make a living. And he’s seen a homeless man become so transformed by the help he received through Community Court that no one recognized him when he came back to court to report on his progress.
“I came to realize the true definition of a public servant is one who serves the public,” Wegman explains. “That is social work.”
He adds:
“I can’t save the world. The world is nuts. But this can make a difference one case at a time and one life at a time.”
Making a Difference
Wegman and Resource Coordinator Paulette Taormina try to make that difference in the life of every person who walks through the Community Court door, as long as the defendants keep their promises and make an effort to help themselves.
And only half of his job has to do with the law, Wegman says. The rest is a combination of people skills and life experience, something he says many of the attorneys who appear in front of him aren’t use to.
“A lot of lawyers don’t feel comfortable combining life experience and the legal aspect,” Wegman says. “They’re used to seeing it black and white.”
Wegman just isn’t a black and white kind of guy.
Not too many judicial officers refer to defendants as “my hero” or “all-star.” But that is exactly the kind of treatment Wegman gives defendants who complete their social service or community service requirements.
“I have a different kind of judicial temperament up here,” Wegman says. “Occasionally a four letter word will slip out, like love.”
But defendants who fail to keep their promises to the court and don’t complete their requirements probably wish they had after Wegman lectures them for wasting his and their own time.
“I don’t like screw-ups and I don’t like to fail,” Wegman says. “I put that same pressure on other people.”
Court officials say his unique temperament makes Wegman an ideal bench officer for the project.
“He’s perfect for this court,” Taormina, the resource coordinator, says. “He’s a cheerleader when he needs to be and he’s a disciplinarian when he needs to be.”
She adds:
“He does have a heart. Although he says he doesn’t, he has a big one.”
Plain Language
To ensure the defendants know exactly what they need to do, Wegman repeats everything, over and over in plain language, not legalese—a skill he picked up at the Public Defender’s Office.
“Most excuses are ‘I didn’t know’ or ‘I didn’t understand,’” Wegman explains. “It helps me connect with these people. If I’m not connecting with these people I’m wasting my time.”
And Wegman doesn’t have time to waste as he carries a full load of arraignments in addition to his Community Court responsibilities.
“Every day you have a different issue, a different case, a different person,” Wegman says. “It’s a challenge.”
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company