Thursday, May 28, 2015

People v. Trujeque (Cal. Supreme Ct. - May 28, 2015)

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It's not every day that you read a California Supreme Court decision that unanimously reverses  a death sentence.   But today's such...
Wednesday, May 27, 2015

Doe v. Ayers (9th Cir. - May 27, 2015)

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Back in March , the Ninth Circuit unanimously granted habeas relief in a California death penalty case.  This was itself unusual.  (Though l...
Tuesday, May 26, 2015

In Re Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases (Cal. Ct. App. - May 26, 2015)

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Justice Robie publishes an opinion to say:  "We love that the parties have finally settled this long-running dispute, which has seen n...

Kumaraperu v. Feldsted (Cal. Ct. App. - May 26, 2015)

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A bank account is owned by X, but Y says that the money in it belongs to Y.  So Y writes a check on the account, payable to Y, and signs X...
Friday, May 22, 2015

Shoen v. Zacarias (Cal. Ct. App. - May 22, 2015)

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Justice Hoffstadt certainly makes a persuasive case in the opening paragraph of this opinion .  He says: "A trial court has the power...
Thursday, May 21, 2015

Leeman v. Adams Extract & Spice Co. (Cal. Ct. App. - May 21, 2015)

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Plaintiff files a Prop. 65 (toxic chemicals warning) case, and -- predictably -- it settles for a tiny amount of civil penalties plus a much...
Wednesday, May 20, 2015

People v. Therman (Cal. Ct. App. - May 20, 2015)

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Defendant says that the trial court erred by imposing a no-contact order with the victim for five years.  The Attorney General agrees, and c...

In Re Sena (Cal. Ct. App. - May 19, 2015)

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Richard Sena is serving a sentence of 16 to life for second degree murder.  He was convicted in 1992, and has been in prison ever since. I...
Tuesday, May 19, 2015

U.S. v. Mageno (9th Cir. - May 19, 2015)

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"In August 2014, this panel issued lengthy published opinions, including a dissent [ here ], vacating Mageno’s conviction based on the ...
Monday, May 18, 2015

Garcia v. Google, Inc. (9th Cir. - May 18, 2015)

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I won't say much about the merits of this case, since it's high-profile and will get substantial attention without me.  Plus, everyo...
Friday, May 15, 2015

Williams v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - May 15, 2015)

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You're a plaintiff's lawyer doing a wage and hour representative action against Marshalls.  You ask 'em for the contact informat...

Riley v. McDaniel (9th Cir. - May 15, 2015)

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Even before reading the opinion, I saw that it was a published death penalty case with Judge Reinhardt as the author.  With no dissent. Do...
Thursday, May 14, 2015

County of Nevada v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - May 14, 2015)

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Lawyers are generally free to meet with their clients in jail (or prison) in person, without the barriers or other sorts of restrictions tha...
Wednesday, May 13, 2015

U.S. v. Brown (9th Cir. - May 13, 2015)

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What do you do when (1) a retained criminal defense attorney takes $50,000 from the defendant to represent him, (2) (allegedly) doesn't ...

Golden State Water Co. v. Casitas Water Dist. (Cal. Ct. App. - May 13, 2015)

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I mentioned when the original opinion came out last month that I thought that Justice Perren's opinion was particularly enthusiastic. ...
Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Comstock v. Humphries (9th Cir. - May 12, 2015)

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Judge Owens writes a strong opinion this morning .  Rightfully so.  Stephen Comstock gets convicted of stealing a ring.  But the owner of th...
Monday, May 11, 2015

In Re Marriage of Horner (Cal. Ct. App. - May 6, 2015)

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The Court of Appeal kicks a dead horse , but for a good cause: "Because we affirm the judgment, there is no need to discuss Penny’s a...
Thursday, May 07, 2015

Davis v. Sentinel Weekly News (Cal. Ct. App. - May 7, 2015)

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Justice Miller writes a steady, coherent, intelligible opinion about whether the Press-Enterprise is a newspaper of "general circulati...

Keep Our Mountains Quiet v. County of Santa Clara (Cal. Ct. App. - May 7, 2015)

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To its credit, the Court of Appeal plays this one straight up . It's about a homeowner who has some weddings on her property in the hi...
Wednesday, May 06, 2015

ACLU v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. - May 6, 2015)

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Today's opinion is technically about a Public Records Act request, not about the merits of the underlying program.  But for those unfam...