Monday, December 30, 2013

People v. Virgo (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 30, 2013)

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When the SWAT team comes to get you, this is what you do not  do .  Otherwise you'll be spending the rest of your life in prison.  Despi...

Federal Ins. Co. v. WCAB (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 3, 2013)

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"The applicant for workers’ compensation was a professional basketball player who was not employed by a California team, has never resi...
Friday, December 27, 2013

People v. Rios (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 27, 2013)

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You read the first two pages of this opinion , which describe the basic facts of the case, and (if you're like me) you think to yourself...

Ross v. Roberts (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 23, 2013)

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Even an old fogey such as myself knows who " Rick Ross " is.  He's the latest incarnation of the rapper/drug dealer persona.  ...
Thursday, December 26, 2013

Alto v. Black (9th Cir. - Dec. 26, 2013)

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Usually when you're an adopted child, you're a child.  All the benefits (and liabilities) arising thereto. With one big exception....
Monday, December 23, 2013

Lexin v. City of San Diego (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 23, 2013)

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Just what the City of San Diego needs:  More multi-million dollar expenses arising out of the whole pension debacle.  This time it's on ...
Friday, December 20, 2013

U.S. v. Shorty (9th Cir. - Dec. 20, 2013)

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Judge Reinhardt's right . Personally, I think the defendant knew full well what she was getting into.  She (and her lawyer) wanted a b...

People v. Rios (Cal. Ct. App. - December 20, 2013)

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I don't think I fully understood just how dominant gangs are in prison until I read this opinion . Did I know they're pretty centr...
Thursday, December 19, 2013

People v. Williams (Cal. Supreme Ct. - December 19, 2013)

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Merry Christmas, Robert Williams.   We're going to kill you .  Notwithstanding your 17-year old daughter's plea at your sentencing a...

U.S. v. Anderson (9th Cir. - Dec. 19, 2013)

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Roosevelt Anderson sells 350 copies of fake Adobe software and makes around $70,000 as a result.   The federal court sentences him to two ye...
Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Los Angeles USD v. Garcia (Cal. Supreme Ct. - Dec. 12, 2013)

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Despite my general approval of certifying state law questions, as I said a while back , I'd have elected to decline to answer this quest...
Tuesday, December 17, 2013

Long Angeles DCFS v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 17, 2013)

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Read the first two sentences of this opinion and tell me if you can guess which way the Court of Appeal is going to come out: "The D...

People v. Nguyen (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 17, 2013)

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Perhaps you zoned out during your first-year criminal law class.  No matter.  You went into civil law anyway.  Or you dealt with more substa...
Monday, December 16, 2013

Palagin v. Paniagua Construction, Inc. (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 16, 2013)

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Cases are hard when the statutory language conflicts with legislative history.  Or the text conflicts with the purposes of the statute.  Or ...

Lee v. Intelius, Inc. (9th Cir. - Dec. 16, 2013)

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It's amazing to me that an attorney -- or anyone else -- can argue with a straight face that the consumers in this class action case ac...
Friday, December 13, 2013

Rollins v. MERS (9th Cir. - Dec. 12, 2013)

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MDL cases are often a mess.  The whole MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration System) stuff is also a mess.  So it's perhaps not surpris...

People v. Freidt (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 12, 2013)

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Yeah.   I agree with the Court of Appeal .  The process of infinitely "revoking" probation for people who are making agreed-upon p...
Thursday, December 12, 2013

People v. Contreras (Cal. Supreme Ct. - Dec. 12, 2013)

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Maybe the jury would have sentenced you to death anyway.  Despite your relative lack of criminal history. You shot a store clerk, after all....

Dzakula v. McHugh (9th Cir. - Dec. 11, 2013)

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I got so excited when I read this opinion by Judge Graber .  It's the latest installment of a two-part series about what you do when a p...
Wednesday, December 11, 2013

Hunter v. CBS Broadcasting (Cal. Ct. App. - Dec. 11, 2013)

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I'm glad that the Court of Appeal decided to publish this opinion . Because it's often good to get erroneous holdings out in the o...