California Appellate Report

Yep.  It couldn't be more crystal clear that a prosecutor can't tell the jury that it should put itself in the victim's shoes.  ...

Judge Bea writes a darn good certiorari petition here .  In his dissent (joined by Judges O'Scannlain, Tallman, Callahan, Ikuta and Rand...

I want to say two things about this opinion . First, I understand that we don't want a high school student bringing a folding knife to...

There are several downsides to the California judiciary's practice of writing opinions prior to oral argument.  Least among them -- but ...

Opinions sometimes are relatively value-neutral.  That is, sometimes, politics and norms and the like only slightly play into the resolution...

Jerry Cohen's a young attorney in the Valley.  (That's the San Fernando Valley for those not alive in the 80s or participants in the...

Imagine that the government passed a statute that says that the first $50 in wages that you earn gets placed in a special account that you c...

Let's say you want to do a drug deal. Or to kidnap and murder someone. Or perhaps all three. Where do you meet? That's right. Denn...

You can make a lot of money if you're a trustee and steal money from someone else's trust. Particularly if it's the 80s and 90s...

What does "approach" mean? A municipal statute allows peaceful picketing at an abortion clinic -- which is protected First Amendm...

Every half-decade or so, the Ninth Circuit expressly invites amicus briefs in a particular case. Back in 2007, I noted one such order and t...

Tesoro owns that big refinery that's near Carson. You've seen it. Huge. Apparently, the refinery straddles the border between Los ...

Rental car companies can't rent to unlicensed drivers, and when they do, they've breached a duty and you can sue them. But they...

"Katherine Majerus died on January 22, 2006, at the age of 96. Fenderson had served as Majerus‘s caregiver. Deirdre Kruse is an elder l...

I knew that there was not statute of limitations for murder. But I didn't know that, in California, there's no statute of limitation...

Exciting! A case involving the Property Clause. Which is hardly the most well-known, or most-often litigated, part of the Constitution. To...

It's a rare First Amendment case in which the plaintiff has been actually injured -- as I believe the plaintiff was here -- and yet does...

Here's the litigation version of "Where's Waldo?" Which, in this context, is: "Where's My Million-Dollar Certif...

I like this opinion by Judge Tashima . It's a classic example of an opinion that uses judgment, and identifies (in my mind) the essenti...

Stephon Butler was convicted of involuntary manslaughter -- a conviction affirmed by the Court of Appeal -- when he participated in a group...