Author: automatic

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law

United States v. Tovar-Duran — Government Must Search for Requested Brady Material

automatic / September 14, 2026

The Ninth Circuit conditionally vacated an improper-entry conviction because the government failed to search for requested impeachment evidence and relied on layered hearsay.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

U Visa Appellants v. USCIS — Advance Parole for Waitlisted Petitioners Is Discretionary

automatic / September 14, 2026

Waitlisted U-visa petitioners have no mandatory right to advance parole, though some waiting-list-delay theories require further district-court review.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Insurance Law, Personal Injury & Tort

In re Kia Hyundai Vehicle Theft Litigation — Korean Manufacturers Face Suit in California

automatic / September 14, 2026

Korean automakers’ California-bound shipments and U.S.-specific designs plausibly supported personal jurisdiction in nationwide vehicle-theft litigation.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Lewis-Williams v. BART — Ninth Circuit Upholds Religious-Accommodation Verdict for Employees

automatic / September 11, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld a jury verdict for former BART employees who showed the agency could have accommodated sincere religious objections to its COVID-19 vaccination requirement without undue hardship.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Real Estate Law, Tax (non-estate)

Debbane v. City and County of San Francisco — Ellis Act Preempts Proposition M Vacancy Tax

automatic / September 11, 2026

The Court of Appeal held San Francisco’s Proposition M vacancy tax preempted because it penalized residential owners for exercising the Ellis Act right to leave the rental business.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Putallez — Probation Officer May Select Treatment Programs Within Court-Defined Limits

automatic / September 11, 2026

The Court of Appeal upheld a probation condition allowing an officer to select drug and mental-health programs because the sentencing court set the treatment categories and did not authorize residential confinement.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Constitutional Law, Real Estate Law

Powers v. McDonough — Ninth Circuit Declines En Banc Review of West Los Angeles Veterans Housing Ruling

automatic / September 11, 2026

The Ninth Circuit left standing a panel ruling concerning disability claims and supportive housing for homeless veterans at the VA’s West Los Angeles campus, over a lengthy dissent from denial of rehearing en banc.

Appellate Division (Superior Court), Civil Procedure, Litigation

Southland Homes v. Lam — Appellate Division Sanctions Lawyers for Filing AI-Fabricated Authorities

automatic / September 10, 2026

An Orange County appellate division imposed sanctions and State Bar reporting obligations after lawyers filed a petition containing fabricated AI-generated cases and propositions.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Schneider v. Warner Bros. Discovery — Quiet on Set Documentary Defamation Claim Struck Under Anti-SLAPP Law

automatic / September 10, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that a documentary about children’s television was not reasonably capable of implying that producer Dan Schneider sexually abused child actors and ordered his defamation claim struck.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Civil Rights Department v. SpaceX — State Agency May Investigate Whether Out-of-State Conduct Violated FEHA

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Court of Appeal affirmed. At the investigative stage, the agency did not have to prove that every alleged act ultimately fell within FEHA before obtaining information reasonably relevant to that question. SpaceX therefore could not defeat the subpoena simply by characterizing the complaint as extraterritorial.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Universal Shopping Plaza v. Hong — Landlord Cannot Base Three-Day Eviction Notice Entirely on Rent More Than One Year Old

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed and directed judgment for the tenant. A landlord cannot invoke the expedited unlawful-detainer remedy when the entire rent default identified in the notice arose more than one year earlier. Contractual payment-allocation language did not restart or evade the statutory window.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Vella v. MACD Helicopters — Federal 18-Year Repose Period Bars Claims Over Police Helicopter Crash

automatic / September 9, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed. GARA’s definition turns on whether a type or airworthiness certificate was issued and on the statutory operating characteristics, not on whether certification was legally required or whether a public agency owned and used the aircraft.

4th District Court of Appeal, Family Law

Marriage of Jessica L. and Sammer Z. — Domestic-violence custody presumption must be independently applied

automatic / September 8, 2026

A California Court of Appeal held that a family court must independently apply the domestic-violence custody presumption rather than treat its rebuttal in another family case as binding.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

In re Moore — Changed medical science required vacating child-abuse conviction

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Court of Appeal vacated a child-abuse conviction because later medical science undermined categorical expert testimony that a short fall could not have caused the fatal injuries.

4th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

In re N.S. — School police needed only reasonable suspicion to search student after gun remark

automatic / September 8, 2026

A school-assigned police officer could search a student on reasonable suspicion after a gun remark, and the student’s ten-minute physical obstruction supported a Penal Code section 148 finding.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Solis — Knife-use admission and circumstantial evidence supported actual-killer finding

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that a knife-use admission plus the surrounding evidence supported an actual-killer finding and denial of Penal Code section 1172.6 relief.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Adom v. CDCR — ADA accommodation duty does not turn solely on medical necessity

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that CDCR could not defeat an ADA accommodation claim solely by deeming requested incontinence supplies medically unnecessary.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Gessen — Murder-for-hire can be a continuing offense supporting California venue

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that murder-for-hire can be charged as a continuing offense and that an undercover intermediary need not genuinely agree to the killing.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Perez-Castillo v. Blanche — Immigration persecutor bar has no implied duress defense

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit independently interpreted the immigration persecutor bar and held that it contains no implied duress defense.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Guzman v. Superior Court — Indigency Can Support Reduced Appeal Bond Despite Significant Assets

automatic / September 4, 2026

A court may reduce an appeal bond for an appellant with significant assets when the evidence shows those resources cannot support the much larger required undertaking.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Hawthorn — Guilty Plea Does Not Preclude Resentencing Issues, but Error Was Harmless

automatic / September 4, 2026

A guilty plea does not preclude factual litigation at a Penal Code section 1172.6 hearing, though Hawthorn failed to show the error changed the result.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Stammers — Inflammatory Messages Unrelated to Charged Conduct Denied Defendant a Fair Trial

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Sixth District reversed a sexual-assault conviction because inflammatory messages with little connection to the charge became improper propensity evidence and denied a fair trial.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

Marriage of Trousset and Kelley — Family Court Must Make Express Need-Based Fee Findings

automatic / September 4, 2026

A family court must expressly compare access to litigation funds and ability to pay before denying need-based fees under Family Code section 2030.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Urban Sunrise v. Vogt — Dual Agents Defeat Fiduciary Claims Over Failed Commercial Property Deals

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Third District upheld summary judgment for dual real-estate agents because the buyer failed to produce a triable issue on the fiduciary breaches it pleaded.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Environmental Law, Litigation

Inland Empire Waterkeeper v. Corona Clay Company — Sackett Change Requires New Trial on Temescal Creek’s Federal Status

automatic / September 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ordered further proceedings on whether Temescal Creek remains federally covered after Sackett while holding that coverage is a merits issue, not jurisdictional.