Second District holds that a jury’s not-true findings on personal firearm use and a robbery special circumstance do not collaterally estop a resentencing court from finding the defendant was the actual killer in a Penal Code section 1172.6 hearing, applying People v. Santamaria and joining Peo
The California Supreme Court reverses Omar Deen’s capital conviction and death sentence because the trial court failed to adequately examine whether a juror who had a personal connection to the murdered police chief harbored actual bias.
Second District holds that the family law court retains discretion under Family Code sections 2030 and 2032 to consider parties’ relative financial circumstances when fixing attorney’s fees, even where a marital settlement agreement contains a contractual prevailing party fee clause.
Second District holds that the seal on a California False Claims Act qui tam complaint lifts automatically after the statutory 60-day period absent a government request for extension, and that any seal violations are not grounds for sustaining a demurrer.
Second District grants habeas petition vacating murder conviction where prosecutor failed to correct false eyewitness testimony about prior police identifications and defense counsel failed to impeach with the witnesses’ actual statements, applying the Supreme Court’s recent Glossip v. O
Fourth District holds that a curative notice in a wage and hour class action must warn employees who rescind individual settlement agreements that they may be required to repay the settlement consideration if the employer prevails, applying California Civil Code rescission statutes rather than feder
First District affirms summary judgment for City of San Rafael in dangerous condition case where teenage driver hydroplaned on wet curve, holding the conditions were open and obvious as a matter of law and that plaintiff could not defeat summary judgment by raising new pavement-defect theories outsi
Sixth District affirms nonsuit for Tesla in case where toddler started Model X and ran over his pregnant mother, holding that the consumer expectations test does not apply to complex modern vehicle safety systems and the plaintiff failed to identify any specific design feature that violated ordinary
First District holds that the term ‘receives’ in Penal Code section 32310(a) requires more than mere possession of a large-capacity magazine, and reverses a felony conviction supported only by evidence that the defendant possessed the magazine in his car.
First District holds, with one justice dissenting, that a defendant forfeited his Penal Code section 1170(b)(6) low term presumption claim by failing to raise it at sentencing despite submitting evidence of childhood trauma.