City Attorney Mike Aguirre today asked a judge to immediately empanel a jury for the city of San Diego’s landmark pension suit, a request that, if granted, would rapidly end the first two phases of the trial.
Judge Jeffrey B. Barton has divided the trial into three phases, the first of which began Monday. The first two phases were expected to last as long as a month and to deal with a number of legal questions that would shape exactly what is argued when a jury convenes to decide the legality of a decade’s worth of employee pension-benefit boosts.
Aguirre asked Barton today to empanel a jury by Monday and move directly to the third phase of the trial.
Barton hasn’t yet ruled on Aguirre’s request and court remains in session.