Judge admonishes attorneys for missed appearances; arraignments continued pending counsel or documentation

Judge Tammy Long Hayward repeatedly admonished defense counsel who failed to enter appearances and continued arraignments where necessary during the March 11, 2025 virtual calendar.

Lucius Gerard Maple told the court he had paid his attorney, Terrell Dark, but the lawyer had not filed an entry of appearance or joined the virtual proceeding. The judge said Maple had appeared at least three times without an appearance showing for counsel and gave Maple the option to either secure an attorney who will appear next week, proceed without retained counsel, or request court-appointed counsel. "If you hired him, he needs to do his job," the judge said, adding she would report dereliction to the bar if counsel continued to fail to appear.

Defense counsel later informed the court that Mr. Dark's office texted that he had taken a leave of absence; the judge said a leave is not acceptable at the moment and ordered Maple's arraignment continued to the following week's jail calendar, giving Maple the option to seek appointed counsel if his retained attorney does not appear.

In a separate matter, Terrell Raymond Coleman, charged in a case where the prosecutor is reviewing whether the incident meets the statutory family-violence definition, received a one-week continuance so the defense could provide documentation about the defendant's residence at the time of the incident. The defense asked for the continuance expressly to obtain and deliver that address documentation; the court set the next appearance for March 18, 2025, at 10 a.m.

The judge told defendants who have paid attorneys that, should their retained counsel repeatedly fail to appear after being retained and paid, they may pursue fee arbitration through the State Bar and seek court-appointed counsel. The court placed multiple defendants into breakout rooms with available public defenders or court probation staff to proceed where possible.