Mom outraged after attacker’s charge dismissed, nearly 1,100 cases dropped so far

A Riverside County mother is demanding justice after she was attacked with her baby.

The case is one of more than 1,000 countywide that have been dismissed by Riverside County Superior Court judges because there were no courtrooms available.

Clarissa Guevara is caught on grainy surveillance video being attacked with her 1-year-old daughter in her arms.

She said it was a friend who attacked her, stemming from a domestic issue in the parking lot of a Hemet apartment complex.

As Guevara tries to heal from the May 2022 attack, the attacker – who was charged with misdemeanor child endangerment – had the case dismissed last month.

Guevara's is one of nearly 1,100 criminal matters that have been dismissed in Riverside County in the last 10 weeks. It's due to a chronic shortage of judges, Covid continuances and a lack of available courtrooms.

The backlog is about 2,200 cases long, with more being dismissed every day.

Nearly 700 cases have been dismissed from the Indio branch so far. 83 of them are violent felony cases that include charges like attempted murder, assault with a deadly weapon, sex crimes, child abuse and domestic violence.

Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin is publicly speaking out against the dismissals.

 “One thousand cases dismissed is a thousand too many," Hestrin wrote in a statement. "These are real cases with real victims... Our victims of crime are being deprived of justice..."

Advocates say victims pay the price in this scenario. They're already shaken up, and the dismissals could frighten them further.

"It is very devastating for a lot of victims to have to experience certain things in the criminal justice system, especially seeing cases getting dismissed where they feel the system is saying well what happened to you is not important, it was not a crime in our eyes," said Miriam El-menshawi with California Victims Resource Center.

The DA's office said misdemeanor cases like the May 2022 attack can't be refiled, but Guevara isn't giving up.

"I'm trying to figure out why she’s not being held responsible for hitting a 1-year-old child...but I'm trying my hardest to have my baby’s voice heard," she said.

A District Attorney's office spokesperson said they are arguing the dismissals in court, immediately refiling felony cases and appealing when appropriate.

Hestrin is urging judges to look at each case individually whether they can wait until a courtroom opens up.