Criminal Law

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

People v. Haddock — Court Reverses Gang Murder Convictions for Improper Denial of Racial Justice Act Claims

automatic / May 28, 2026

The Fourth District conditionally reverses gang murder convictions, finding the trial court applied the wrong legal standards when denying Racial Justice Act motions and discovery requests based on the prosecution's introduction of a rap song at trial.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Ramadhan — Court Upholds Jailhouse Sting Statements Despite Suspect’s Miranda Invocation, Drawing Line from Zapata

automatic / May 27, 2026

The Fourth District affirms a murder conviction where a suspect’s incriminating statements to a jailhouse undercover agent were admissible despite his prior Miranda invocation, because no known officer stimulated conversation after the invocation.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Rifat — Court Denies Arrest Record Sealing Where Plea Deal in Separate Case Arose from Same Underlying Conduct

automatic / May 27, 2026

The Fourth District holds that arrest records cannot be sealed under Penal Code section 851.91 when the arrest led to a conviction in a separately filed case arising from the same underlying conduct.

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

United States v. Johnsen — Hash-Value Matches Can Establish Probable Cause Without Visual Confirmation of Files

automatic / May 26, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that hash-value matches between a suspect's files and known child pornography can establish probable cause for a search warrant without agents first downloading and visually confirming the files.

6th District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

P. v. Molina — Lifetime Sex Offender Registration for Older Offenders Does Not Violate Equal Protection

automatic / May 26, 2026

California's Sixth District Court of Appeal upholds lifetime sex offender registration for offenders convicted of lewd acts with minors under Penal Code section 288(c)(1), rejecting an equal protection challenge comparing them to section 288(a) offenders who face shorter registration periods.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Litigation

In re N.S. — Juvenile Court Cannot Commit Minor to Secure Facility When Most Recent Offense Is Not a Qualifying Crime

automatic / May 26, 2026

California appellate court reverses juvenile's commitment to a Secure Youth Treatment Facility because the minor's most recent offense by date was not a qualifying crime under section 707(b).

2nd District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Cardenas — Defendants Have the Right to Argue Aggravating Sentencing Factors to a Jury

automatic / May 26, 2026

California appellate court rules that defendants must be allowed to argue aggravating sentencing factors to a jury, reversing an upper-term firearm enhancement where the trial court denied closing argument on those factors.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Insurance Law, Litigation

People v. Bankers Insurance Co. — Trial Court Retains Bond Jurisdiction After Off-the-Record Finding of Sufficient Excuse

automatic / May 21, 2026

First District affirms bail bond forfeiture, holding that a trial court's on-the-record acknowledgment of an off-the-record explanation for a defendant's nonappearance suffices to retain jurisdiction over the bond under Penal Code section 1305.1.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Tyus — Court Affirms Section 1172.6 Relief for Teenage Accomplice but Requires Conviction Redesignation

automatic / May 21, 2026

Fourth District affirms that People failed to prove teenage accomplice guilty of murder under current law at section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing, but remands to redesignate his manslaughter conviction as attempted robbery rather than dismissing the case entirely.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law

United States v. Tekola — Drug Trafficking Enhancement Applies Even When Defendant’s Apartment Is Also His Home

automatic / May 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed a sentencing enhancement for maintaining a drug distribution premises, holding that a defendant’s apartment can qualify even when it also serves as his primary residence.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Kheyre — Departures Excluded from Amended Guideline Range in Sentence Reduction Proceedings

automatic / May 20, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that courts may not include departures when calculating the amended guideline range in sentence reduction proceedings under 18 U.S.C. § 3582(c)(2), making defendants whose original sentences fell below the amended range ineligible for reductions.

California Supreme Court, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Mitchell — California Supreme Court Holds Defendants Who Agreed to Upper Term Sentences via Plea Bargain May Seek Retroactive Benefit of SB 567

automatic / May 18, 2026

The California Supreme Court unanimously held that defendants who accepted upper term sentences as part of a plea bargain may seek retroactive benefit of SB 567’s amendments to Penal Code section 1170(b), but the remedy is a remand for the defendant to waive, renegotiate, or withdraw the plea—not an automatic sentence reduction.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Criminal Law, Litigation

Nuanmanee v. Superior Court — Court of Appeal Holds Defendant Was Not ‘Brought to Trial’ When Court Policy Prevented Jury Empanelment on Last Statutory Day

automatic / May 18, 2026

The Third District Court of Appeal granted a writ of mandate ordering dismissal of a misdemeanor DUI case after the trial court’s policy of not empaneling juries on Mondays prevented the defendant from being brought to trial on the last statutory day under Penal Code section 1382.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Lopez-Tapia — Court Holds Childhood Trauma Must Be Linked to Specific Offense to Trigger Lower-Term Presumption

automatic / May 15, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal affirmed a middle-term sentence for witness dissuasion, holding that evidence of childhood trauma alone does not trigger the lower-term presumption under Penal Code section 1170(b)(6) without sufficient evidence linking that trauma to the specific offense.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Superior Court (Feghhi) — Sixth District Orders Blood-Alcohol Evidence Reinstated in DUI Murder Case

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Sixth District ordered a trial court to reinstate blood-alcohol evidence in a DUI murder case, holding that a defendant's breath-test request is irrelevant to blood-draw warrant probable cause and that the implied consent statute does not override a valid warrant.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Wilmot — Murder Conviction Vacated After Jury Instruction Wrongly Added ‘Unintentionally’ to Manslaughter Definition

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Second District vacated a murder conviction because the trial court improperly added and underlined 'unintentionally' in the voluntary manslaughter jury instruction, misleading the jury about when heat of passion applies.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Bradford v. Vang — Ninth Circuit Holds Loper Bright Does Not Displace AEDPA Deference in Habeas Cases

automatic / May 14, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Loper Bright's elimination of Chevron deference does not undermine AEDPA's deferential standard in habeas cases, reversing a district court's grant of relief to a California death-row inmate.

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

United States v. Sanchez — Ninth Circuit Adopts ‘Heavy Presumption of Prejudice’ Standard When Racially Biased Juror Is Removed Mid-Deliberation

automatic / May 12, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that when a racially biased juror is discovered and removed before a verdict is accepted, courts must apply the Remmer framework’s heavy presumption of prejudice—and reverses a tax-fraud conviction because the government could not rebut that presumption.

5th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Robinson — Lifers Who Aren’t Sex Offenders Stay Eligible for SB 483 Resentencing

automatic / May 8, 2026

The Fifth District holds that Penal Code section 1172.75(f) excludes from resentencing only inmates who were both convicted of a sexually violent offense and sentenced to death or LWOP — reopening SB 483 resentencing for many lifers.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Chapman — Ninth Circuit: Federal Kidnapping Can Be Committed by Deception, But Conviction Vacated for Jury Coercion

automatic / May 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit holds that federal kidnapping under 18 U.S.C. 1201(a)(1) can be committed by deception alone, but vacates the murder-kidnapping conviction because the trial judge improperly coerced a unanimous verdict from a deadlocked jury.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Burney v. Broomfield — Ninth Circuit Affirms Habeas Denial in Death Penalty Case, Finding No Judicial Bias

automatic / May 7, 2026

The Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of habeas relief for a California death row inmate, finding that the trial judge's informal and at times inappropriate comments during trial did not demonstrate bias or render the proceedings fundamentally unfair.

5th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Criminal Law, Litigation

Myers v. Dept. of Motor Vehicles — Body-Cam Video Can Rebut Officer’s Claim of Continuous DUI Observation

automatic / May 6, 2026

The Fifth District holds that body-worn camera footage showing an officer left a DUI suspect alone in a patrol car during the required 15-minute observation period is sufficient to rebut the presumption that breath test procedures were properly followed.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Healthcare Law

People v. Tourville — 2nd District Says Trial Court Cannot Condition Mental-Health Treatment on a No-Contest Plea Where Defendant Is Eligible for Diversion

automatic / May 5, 2026

The Second District holds that when a trial court finds a defendant eligible and suitable for mental-health diversion under Penal Code section 1001.36, requiring a no-contest plea as the price of receiving the same treatment via probation directly conflicts with the statute's purpose.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Mijares — 2nd District Affirms Murder Conviction Where Defendant’s Attack Was a Substantial Factor in Death Despite Victim’s Preexisting Conditions

automatic / May 5, 2026

The Second District affirms a first-degree murder conviction, holding the trial court had no duty to instruct on attempted murder where the defendant's brutal attack was a substantial factor in the victim's death even though the victim had grave preexisting heart and liver disease.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Morris — California Supreme Court Says Non-Killer Must Aid the Lethal Act, Not Just the Underlying Felony, to Be Guilty of First-Degree Felony Murder

automatic / May 4, 2026

The California Supreme Court holds that a non-killer accomplice with intent to kill is guilty of first-degree felony murder only if they aided the actual killer in the lethal act itself, not merely the underlying felony — reopening resentencing for many defendants previously denied.