Odom v. Los Angeles Community College Dist. (Cal. Ct. App. - April 7, 2025)

To say that the Court of Appeal was nonplussed about the conduct of the trial judge in this case would be a substantial understatement.

The Court of Appeal reverses a $10 million verdict in favor of the plaintiff in this sexual harassment case and remands for a new trial. Justice Grimes' opinion repeatedly calls out the trial judge, Judge Draper, by name in the opinion.

You can get an accurate sense of the tone and content of the opinion from its very first page, which says:

"This is an unusual case, due to the significant arbitrary and prejudicial evidentiary rulings of the judge presiding over the trial. After the judgment was entered, defendants filed motions for a new trial (or in the alternative a remittitur) and for partial judgment notwithstanding the verdict (JNOV) (or in the alternative for remittitur). At the hearing on those motions, which were denied, the trial judge initiated extended, bizarre personal comments on racial matters with newly substituted defense counsel (the only Black woman in the courtroom), despite there being no racial issue of any kind in the case. Defendants filed a motion to disqualify the judge for cause and to void his rulings on the motions. After writ proceedings and referral to a neutral judge, the trial judge was disqualified and his rulings on the postjudgment motions were voided.

On this appeal from the judgment, we need not decide whether the trial judge’s prejudicially erroneous evidentiary rulings during the trial were motivated, in part, as defendants contend, by “persistent racial and gender bias.” It seems clear the judge’s rulings were motivated by personal opinions untethered to the rules of evidence. Whatever his motivations may have been, the judge admitted inflammatory evidence without consideration of the evidentiary rules, with undeniable prejudicial effect, thus preventing a fair trial. We accordingly reverse the judgment and order a new trial."

The remaining 38 pages contain more of the same, only with additional (excruciating) detail.

The opinion then ends with this:

"On a final note, while we do not know whether, as defendants contend, Judge Draper’s “persistent racial and gender bias” motivated his rulings at trial, we cannot rule out that possibility in light of the extreme and bizarre comments he made at the posttrial motions hearing and his ensuing disqualification for cause. We need not decide whether bias was the reason for his arbitrary and capricious evidentiary rulings; the rulings were an abuse of discretion irrespective of his motivations. One thing we can say for sure is, the rulings were not motivated by a devotion to the law of evidence."

It's possible that I've previously seen a Court of Appeal opinion that was harsher in its treatment of the trial judge. But if so, I definitely don't remember it.

Wow.

People v. McGhee & Jasso (Cal. Supreme Ct. - April 3, 2025)

It's a rare day when you simultaneously have joy and disappointment on death row in San Quentin. But today is one of those days.

Christopher Jasso gets his conviction and death sentence unanimously affirmed. Killing a taxi driver in cold blood for a robbery, and then consistently attacking other inmates before the penalty phase, is not the soundest strategy for obtaining your freedom.

By contrast, Timothy McGhee's conviction and death sentence are unanimously reversed. He allegedly killed -- or at least ordered the killing -- of a plethora of people. But the trial court dismissed a juror who, essentially, just didn't believe the prosecution's case. The juror didn't refuse to deliberate or anything. He just consistently and pervasively disbelieved the prosecution's witnesses. That's not enough to get you booted off a jury, hence the result.

So a split result, on balance, for that particular group of inmates up north.

Krug v. Board of Trustees of Cal. State Univs. (Cal. Ct. App. - April 1, 2025)

There are lots of reasons why it's better to be employed by a private university rather than a public one. Add this to the list. The Court of Appeal holds that Section 2802 of the Labor Code, which requires employers to reimburse employees for their reasonable on-the-job expenses, doesn't apply to state employees, including faculty at public universities.

There are other ways, of course, in which teaching at a public university is superior; in particular, in the protections afforded by the First Amendment and the Due Process Clause, which apply in public schools but substantially less so in private schools.

Still. Definitely not perfect to be on the faculty at a public university. Lots of downsides. 

(Admittedly: Still a great job, though.)

Winter v. Menlo (Cal. Ct. App. - April 2, 2025)

Yeah, sorry. It's a conflict. You're disqualified for that.

Justice Viramontes' opinion is 30 pages longer than that, and has more exhaustive detail, but honestly, it's to the same effect.