California Case Summaries

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. The North River Insurance Co. — Defendant’s Counsel Appearance Under Section 977 Triggers Bail Bond Exoneration; Court Retains Jurisdiction to Award Extradition Costs

Fourth District holds that a defendant's appearance through counsel under Penal Code section 977 satisfies the appearance requirement for bail bond exoneration and that the trial court retained jurisdiction to award extradition costs after conditional exoneration.

4th District Court of Appeal, Construction Law, Litigation

AVL Test Systems v. Hensel Phelps Construction — Whether Equipment Becomes “Fixed Part of the Structure” for Contractor Licensing Exemption Is a Question of Fact

Fourth District reverses summary judgment for general contractor in $73 million emissions testing equipment dispute, holding that whether the equipment becomes a fixed part of the structure for purposes of the contractor licensing finished products exemption is a question of fact when supported by conflicting expert testimony.

California Supreme Court, Family Law

In re Z.G. — Juvenile Court Cannot Terminate Parental Rights Based Solely on Adoptability, and Mother’s Lawyer Was Ineffective for Failing to Demand Required Reunification Services

The California Supreme Court holds that juvenile courts cannot terminate a parent's rights based solely on a finding that the children are likely to be adopted, and that the mother's trial counsel here was constitutionally ineffective for failing to assert her statutory right to reunification services.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Hanan v. USCIS — Ninth Circuit holds the marriage fraud bar applies even when the noncitizen never applied for benefits based on the sham marriage, and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination

The Ninth Circuit affirms denial of an I-130 spousal petition under the marriage fraud bar, holding that the bar applies to attempts to enter sham marriages even without follow-on benefits applications and that USCIS need not produce the ex-spouse for cross-examination.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Reach Community Development v. USDHS — Ninth Circuit stays Portland injunction barring tear gas at ICE protests, holding bystanders likely have no substantive-due-process right against incidental chemical exposure

The Ninth Circuit stays a Portland district court injunction barring federal officers from using tear gas to disperse demonstrators outside an ICE facility, holding that nearby apartment residents likely have no substantive-due-process right to be free from incidental chemical exposure.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Dickinson v. Trump — Ninth Circuit stays Portland injunction restricting federal crowd-control tactics, faulting overbroad class relief and uniform-redesign order in protest-retaliation case

The Ninth Circuit stays a sweeping district court injunction that had restricted federal officers' use of non-lethal crowd-control munitions and ordered ICE agent uniforms redesigned, holding the underlying First Amendment retaliation theory unlikely to succeed and the relief overbroad and improperly class-wide.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Litigation

People ex rel. Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District v. Defty — Cross-Complaint Challenging Validity of Underlying Agency Policy Does Not Arise From Protected Activity for Anti-SLAPP Purposes

Third District affirms denial of anti-SLAPP motion to strike a cross-complaint challenging the validity of an air quality management district's underlying interpretive policy, holding that the cross-complaint did not arise from the district's protected enforcement activities.

1st District Court of Appeal, Environmental Law, Real Estate Law

Citizens Against Marketplace Apartment/Condo Development v. City of San Ramon — Approval of Mixed-Use Infill Housing Project Was Consistent With City General Plan and Zoning

First District affirms approval of 44-unit mixed-use infill housing project on former shopping center site in San Ramon, holding that the project was consistent with the City's general plan and zoning ordinance and that aspirational planning language did not impose mandatory master plan requirements.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Emrick — Probation Condition Allowing Probation Department to Jail Defendant Without Hearing Improperly Delegates Judicial Authority

First District holds that a probation condition allowing the probation department to incarcerate a defendant for up to 120 days without a court hearing improperly delegates judicial authority and that denying custody credit for residential treatment requires a knowing waiver under Penal Code section 2900.5.

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

Stoker v. Blue Origin — Blue Origin Arbitration Agreement Substantively and Procedurally Unconscionable; Severance Not Appropriate

Second District affirms denial of Blue Origin's motion to compel arbitration of former employee's FEHA sexual harassment and other claims, holding that the arbitration agreement is both substantively and procedurally unconscionable due to lack of mutuality and one-sided carve-outs, and that severance is not appropriate.

California Supreme Court, Administrative Law, Real Estate Law

Shear Development Co. v. California Coastal Commission — Courts Decide Coastal Commission Jurisdiction Independently, and the Commission Cannot Take Appeals Just Because a Site Allows Multiple Principal Uses

The California Supreme Court holds that courts must independently review whether the Coastal Commission has appellate jurisdiction over a local permit decision and that the Commission cannot exercise that jurisdiction merely because a site allows multiple principal uses.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Environmental Law

County of San Bernardino v. Insurance Company of the State of Pennsylvania — Ninth Circuit holds policy’s aggregate limit does not apply to property damage, restoring per-occurrence coverage for Chino Airport environmental cleanup

The Ninth Circuit reverses the dismissal of the County of San Bernardino's coverage suit against ICSOP for cleanup costs at the Chino Airport, holding that the policies' aggregate limits provision is ambiguous and does not cap property-damage coverage.

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

Jessica M. v. CDCR — Penal Code Section 3051 Youth Offender Parole Hearings Constitutional as Applied to Forcible Sex Offenders Sentenced Under Section 667.6

Second District holds that Penal Code section 3051 youth offender parole hearings are constitutional as applied to forcible sex offenders sentenced under section 667.6's full consecutive sentence scheme, finding that section 3051 did not improperly amend Proposition 83 (Jessica's Law).

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

United States v. State of California — Ninth Circuit grants injunction barring enforcement of California’s No Vigilantes Act ID requirement against federal officers, holding the law violates the Supremacy Clause

The Ninth Circuit grants the United States an injunction pending appeal barring California from enforcing the No Vigilantes Act's visible-identification requirement against federal officers, holding that the law likely violates the Supremacy Clause by directly regulating the federal government's performance of its functions.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Moving Oxnard Forward v. Lopez — Ninth Circuit en banc upholds Oxnard’s per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits against First Amendment challenge

Sitting en banc, the Ninth Circuit upholds the City of Oxnard's voter-enacted per-candidate and aggregate campaign-contribution limits, holding the City sufficiently demonstrated an anti-corruption interest and that the limits are closely drawn to that interest under Randall v. Sorrell.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

J.R. v. Ventura Unified School District — Ninth Circuit holds IDEA’s two-year clock starts when parents reasonably suspect inadequate special education, not when a later diagnosis confirms it

The Ninth Circuit holds that the IDEA's two-year statute of limitations starts when parents know or should know that the school district has failed to assess their child and that the child's education is inadequate, time-barring the family's claims for special-education services received before 2019.

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

Santana v. Studebaker Health Care Center — Multiple Arbitration Documents With Minor Ambiguities Form Enforceable Agreement

Second District reverses denial of motion to compel arbitration in nursing facility wage and hour class action, holding that three arbitration-related onboarding documents must be construed together and form an enforceable agreement despite minor ambiguities and the typical procedural unconscionability of an adhesion contract.

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

People v. Hardy — California’s Assault Weapon, Silencer, and Large-Capacity Magazine Bans Survive Second Amendment Facial Challenge After Bruen

Second District rejects facial Second Amendment challenges to California's prohibitions on assault weapons, short-barreled shotguns, silencers, and large-capacity magazines, holding that these regulations survive scrutiny under Heller, Bruen, and the common use test.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

Bobo v. Appellate Division of Superior Court — Trial Court Cannot Deny Misdemeanor Vehicular Manslaughter Diversion Based Solely on the Inherent Elements of the Charged Offense

Fourth District grants writ of mandate ordering reconsideration of misdemeanor diversion request in vehicular manslaughter case, holding that the trial court abused its discretion by denying diversion based solely on the inherent elements of the charged offense (negligence causing death) without individualized analysis.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Litigation

United States v. Bolandian — Ninth Circuit vacates insider-trading conviction, holding the trial court abdicated its duty to investigate a juror who said he might not be impartial

The Ninth Circuit vacates an insider-trading conviction because the trial court failed to investigate a juror who said he was unsure of being impartial, instead asking the juror to monitor his own bias, in violation of the Sixth Amendment right to an impartial jury.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Environmental Law

Shoshone-Bannock Tribes v. U.S. Department of the Interior — Ninth Circuit denies en banc rehearing in dispute over BLM land exchange involving 1900 ceded reservation lands, leaving panel ruling for the tribes intact

The Ninth Circuit denies panel rehearing and rehearing en banc in the tribes' challenge to a BLM land exchange under FLPMA, leaving in place the panel's ruling that an 1900 cession statute restricts disposal of certain Fort Hall ceded lands.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Business Transactions, Litigation

McAuliffe v. Robinson Helicopter — Ninth Circuit holds GARA’s rolling 18-year repose period restarts for replacement parts even without substantive alteration, reviving Hawaiian crash family’s wrongful-death suit against Torrance manufacturer

The Ninth Circuit holds that GARA's rolling provision restarts the 18-year statute of repose for replacement aircraft parts even when the new part is identical to the original, reviving a wrongful-death suit against Torrance-based Robinson Helicopter Company over a fatal Hawaiian sightseeing crash.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Landrine — Defendant Cannot “Satisfactorily Perform” Mental Health Diversion Without Substantially Complying with Diversion Requirements

Sixth District reverses dismissal of multiple criminal cases under Penal Code section 1001.36 mental health diversion, holding that a defendant who commits several dozen new crimes during diversion has not substantially performed the diversion requirements regardless of progress made afterward.

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