SACRAMENTO - Chief Justice Tani G. Cantil-Sakauye addressed the effect of recent budget cuts on the public’s access to justice before a joint hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee and the Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Committee, Subcommittee No. 5 on Corrections, Public Safety and the Judiciary.

“We in the judicial branch accept our responsibility to help address the state’s ongoing fiscal crisis,” said the chief justice. “But we also are mindful of our duty to ensure that 38 million Californians are assured their rights under our constitution, that businesses and residents are provided lawful means to settle disputes, and that those accused of crimes are prosecuted fairly and expeditiously,” she said.

MADERA – Madera County District Attorney Michael R. Keitz announced Monday that Lorenzo Ramos, age 52, of Mendota was convicted on April 13, 2011 of grand theft charges.

A jury in the Madera Superior Court convicted Ramos for stealing a farm trailer early in the morning of January 11, 2012, from an equipment yard on Avenue 6 in Madera County. A farm employee witnessed the theft and alerted the Sheriff’s Office, who apprehended Ramos and recovered the stolen property within minutes.