Sandford v. Sandford (Cal. Ct. App. - Sept. 3, 2026)

Sometimes it pays to (allegedly) steal hundreds of thousands of dollars from your siblings.

U.S. v. Nasri (9th Cir. - Sept. 2, 2026)

Do you long for those halcyon days of first-year (and/or advanced) Civil Procedure? Do you feel compelled to get a daily dose of Pennoyer v. Neff, the intricacies of in rem jurisdiction, and the complex principles of territorial sovereignty?

If so, these 127 single-spaced pages are for you.

The opinion is by Judge Desai. Judge Bybee authors a concurrence. Judge Desai writes a concurrence of her own. Then Judge Bennett writes a dissent.

It is a civil procedure professor's dream.

And an ordinary litigant's nightmare.

Even more so when you add in, as here, complexities involving waiver, fugitive disentitlement, and the party presentation doctrine.

Overall, a roller coaster ride of procedure.

People v. Espinosa (Cal. Ct. App. - Aug. 31, 2026)

Here's a line you don't see that often:

"Defendant was 75 years old when he committed his crimes in September 2009. . . ."

You wouldn't think that'd be a murder or anything like that, and it's not. "Defendant was convicted on three counts: (A) one count of engaging in sexual intercourse or sodomy with a child who is 10 years old or younger (§ 288.7, subd. (a)); and (B) two counts of committing a lewd or lascivious act upon a child who is younger than 14 years old (§ 288, subd. (a))." Ooof.

According to the opinion, Mr. Espinosa is still confined, albeit in "a privately owned, noncustodial, long-term care facility (the Facility)." The question is whether he should be granted compassionate relief, as he is 92 years old at this point and functionally immobile.

You might think that the issue is about "compassion" or something like that, but not really. It's instead simply who pays. Right now, the Department of Corrections is paying for his facility, since he's still "in prison." The Department wants him to apply for Medi-Cal so someone else -- e.g., the federal government -- pays.

For Mr. Espinosa, it probably matters little. Except that maybe he gets transferred to a worse facility.

Sometimes "prison" is better.

U.S. v. Morgovsky (9th Cir. - Aug. 31, 2026)

Judge Bea begins this opinion with:

"For years, Naum Morgovsky smuggled components for night-vision and thermal-vision rifle scopes into Russia and laundered the proceeds of his illicit enterprise through a network of offshore banks. But federal investigators eventually got Morgovsky in their sights."

Get it?