COURT COMES TO SENIORS ON LAW DAY; SMALL-CLAIMS CASES ARGUED BEFORE JURIST AT WEST HILLS CENTER.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Daily News Staff Writer

They were small-claims disputes over unpaid chiropractor bills, furniture clashing with wallpaper and a condo damaged by a leaky roof.

Not the stuff of gavel-to-gavel television coverage, but legal beefs gripping enough Wednesday to draw about 100 seniors to the Milken Jewish Community Campus for a Small Claims Court session in honor of Law Day.

It got 81-year-old Harold Chaiet out of his West Hills home, where he said he would have spent the morning watching TV's ``Judge Judy'' dispense justice. Instead, Chaiet said he got a firsthand look at the judicial process at work.

``There was no phony acting,'' Chaiet said. ``It wasn't taped yesterday or last month. It was real, and I enjoy that.''

Several of the litigants who appeared before Los Angeles Municipal Court Commissioner Rebecca Omens left less satisfied because rulings were issued in only a few of the dozen cases. Omens said some would have to wait a few days for her decision or return on another date with more evidence - not nearly as speedy service as delivered by Judge Judy.

``Judge Judy is for entertainment; she has ratings to be concerned about. This is a real court,'' Omens said in an interview after the court session.

The goal wasn't to titillate, but to help the public understand the legal system by taking it beyond the courthouse walls, the jurist said.

``Going out into the community helps demystify what happens so, in the appropriate case, people won't be afraid to bring it to the court for resolution,'' she said.

Though these small-claims matters were limited to damages of less than $5,000, many of the cases were emotionally charged standoffs between warring parties armed with fistfuls of documents.

``I thought I could trust her,'' said one plaintiff, Bernardine Westmoreland, who took a friend of a friend to court over some carpeting, upholstery and remodeling she said was shoddy or incomplete. Westmoreland asked for $5,000 from designer George-Ann Hinrichs.

When it was her turn to address the court, Hinrichs shot back that the carpet was damaged after it was installed, during an effort to exterminate termites.

``I've been in business for 12 years and have never had a complaint,'' she said.

With a stack of invoices and photos to review, Omens said she would need three days to make a ruling.

Evelyn Wylie, a 78-year-old spectator, left wanting to know the commissioner's decision on that case.

``I can imagine how (Westmoreland) felt because a lot of that happened to me with the laying of carpets,'' Wylie said. ``There were a lot of gaps, and it was just terrible.''