Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Castillo v. Bean — Post-conviction counsel error may excuse default of Nevada death-penalty claims

automatic / October 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit revived two Nevada death-row habeas claims because initial post-conviction counsel's errors may excuse their procedural default.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Flint — Off-duty deputy remained a peace officer for felony-murder resentencing

automatic / October 2, 2026

A published California decision holds that an off-duty deputy retained peace-officer authority, making a felony-murder defendant ineligible for section 1172.6 resentencing.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Labor & Employment Law

Washington v. Alta Loma School District — Job sharing is not leave that permits temporary teacher status

automatic / October 2, 2026

A school district could not classify a teacher as temporary merely because she covered hours relinquished through permanent teachers' voluntary job sharing.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

Jordan v. Superior Court — No Full Evidentiary Hearing Required to Revoke Outpatient Competency Treatment

automatic / October 1, 2026

The First District Court of Appeal holds that due process does not require a full evidentiary hearing before a court revokes a mentally incompetent defendant's outpatient competency-restoration status under Penal Code section 1608.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Insurance Law, Litigation

Passport 420, LLC v. Starr Indemnity — Insurer May Rescind a Policy for Undisclosed Material Facts Even Without Asking

automatic / October 1, 2026

The Second District Court of Appeal holds an insurer may rescind a policy for an applicant's concealment of a material fact even if the insurer's application never asked about it — and that a manager's knowledge of his own embezzlement can be imputed to the company he managed.

1st District Court of Appeal, Litigation

Nelson v. Nelson — Obsolete paper-contest exception cannot defeat trust no-contest statute

automatic / September 30, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed. It held that the judicially created paper-contest exception does not apply to a trust governed by California’s current statutory scheme for no-contest clauses.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

In re X.G. — Juvenile courts may reduce restitution for compelling reasons

automatic / September 30, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed and remanded. It held that section 730.6 gives juvenile courts discretion to award less than full economic loss when compelling and extraordinary reasons support a reduction. A minor’s responsibility and fault are relevant, though the statute does not make ability to pay the controlling consideration.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Atencio — Incidental movement cannot support kidnapping for robbery

automatic / September 30, 2026

The Court of Appeal reversed the kidnapping-for-robbery conviction because the movements inside the home did not satisfy the independent asportation requirement; they were incidental to accomplishing the robbery. It left the false-imprisonment conviction intact because that offense does not require movement.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Barraza — Hair attached to a person is not property for robbery

automatic / September 30, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that attached human hair is part of the body, not personal property under Penal Code section 211. California generally regulates human tissue through specialized statutes rather than ordinary property law, and no statute converts hair severed and taken in a continuous act into property as the Legislature has done for crops and fixtures.

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

Baker Ranches v. Burgum — McCarran Amendment permits suit to administer decreed water rights

automatic / September 30, 2026

A divided Ninth Circuit panel reversed. The majority held that the 1934 adjudication comprehensively determined the relative rights to the creek system and that the present suit seeks administration of those established rights.

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

Americans for Prosperity v. Meyer — Arizona campaign-source disclosure survives First Amendment review

automatic / September 30, 2026

A divided Ninth Circuit panel affirmed dismissal of the facial and as-applied challenges. Applying exacting scrutiny, the majority found a substantial relationship between source disclosure and Arizona’s important interest in giving voters accurate information about major campaign-media spending.

1st District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

In re J.G. — Juvenile Restitution Must Account for All Responsible Participants

automatic / September 29, 2026

A juvenile court must consider the fault of all potentially responsible participants when allocating restitution, even if only one minor was charged.

1st District Court of Appeal, Constitutional Law, Litigation

Blackman v. Substack — First Amendment Bars Claims Over Truthful Reporting from Lawfully Obtained Arrest Record

automatic / September 29, 2026

The First Amendment barred publication-based claims over truthful reporting drawn from a sealed arrest report that the journalist lawfully obtained.

1st District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Osaze v. Gee — Expert Evidence Created a Triable Issue About Fatal Fall

automatic / September 29, 2026

Expert and circumstantial evidence created a jury question about whether an unsecured dog and raised threshold caused a fatal fall.

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

Weston v. Department of Transportation — Complaint Cannot Materially Depart from Government Claim

automatic / September 29, 2026

A complaint against a public entity cannot proceed on materially different facts from those fairly disclosed in the claimant's administrative claim.

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

Washington v. Crown Resources — Private Clean Water Act Settlement Does Not Preclude State’s Separate Suit

automatic / September 28, 2026

A private Clean Water Act consent decree did not preclude Washington's separate suit because the State was neither a party nor in privity with the settling group.

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

Edwards v. Brown — Oregon Limitations Period Tolls During Mandatory Prison Grievance Process

automatic / September 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that Oregon's limitations period for a prisoner's section 1983 claim tolls while mandatory grievance exhaustion is underway.

1st District Court of Appeal, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Chaudhry v. State of California — Whistleblower Claims May Proceed Against the Employer, Not Individual Supervisors

automatic / September 28, 2026

A published California decision holds that section 1102.5 claims may reach later retaliation described as ongoing, but individual supervisors are not personally liable.

1st District Court of Appeal, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Family Law

Seiwald v. Irias — Marvin Agreement Can Create Ownership in Premarital Public Pension Benefits

automatic / September 28, 2026

A Marvin agreement can give an unmarried partner an ownership share in public pension benefits earned during cohabitation despite statutory anti-assignment protection.

4th District Court of Appeal, Banking & Finance, Collections & Creditor Rights, Litigation

MLA Capital v. Keagle — Authorized Partial Payments Can Restart Limitations Period on Promissory Notes

automatic / September 28, 2026

Authorized partial payments may restart California's six-year limitations period for enforcing a promissory note, creating a triable issue here.

4th District Court of Appeal, Litigation, Real Estate Law

WCST Enterprises v. Ling — Prevailing-Party Label Does Not Establish Entitlement to Attorney Fees

automatic / September 28, 2026

A judgment's generic prevailing-party label does not establish fee entitlement when the successful claim did not enforce CC&Rs or another fee-bearing agreement.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Business Transactions, Constitutional Law

TC Telephone v. Public Utilities Commission — Vague Reimbursement Rules Cannot Support Retroactive Repayment Order

automatic / September 28, 2026

The CPUC could not retroactively demand millions under reimbursement rules that failed to give fair notice and that agency staff themselves viewed as unclear.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Litigation

United States v. Burton — False Claims Act Military Bar Does Not Permit Immediate Appeal

automatic / September 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that denial of the False Claims Act's military service-member bar is not an immediately appealable collateral order.

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

Diemert v. City of Seattle — Evidence of Anti-White Harassment Can Support Hostile-Workplace Claim

automatic / September 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit revived a white employee's hostile-workplace claim while rejecting his constructive-discharge, retaliation, and equal-protection theories.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Perez-Garcia v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit Finds Failure to Consider Bond Payment Evidence Is Legal Error

automatic / September 25, 2026

When an immigration judge grants voluntary departure but conditions it on posting a bond, the Board of Immigration Appeals commits legal error if it overlooks evidence that the bond was paid.