2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Campbell — Murder Resentencing Denied Despite Claimed Instructional Ambiguity

automatic / September 1, 2026

The Second District held that Lopez removed a procedural bar to Campbell’s instructional theory but that his jury necessarily found a still-valid form of malice.

5th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Personal Injury & Tort

People v. Castillo — Crime Victims May Receive Noneconomic Restitution Without a Fixed Formula

automatic / September 1, 2026

The Fifth District held that noneconomic victim restitution needs no fixed formula, but each recipient must have evidence of individualized harm.

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

Parsons v. City of Indian Wells — City may let common-interest communities opt out of short-term-rental limits

automatic / August 31, 2026

Indian Wells may let qualifying common-interest communities opt out of its short-term-rental minimum because the program neither amends HOA documents nor delegates core lawmaking power.

4th District Court of Appeal, Family Law

In re A.H. — Intervening tribe is presumptively entitled to a guardian’s court-ordered psychological evaluation

automatic / August 31, 2026

An intervening tribe has presumptive statutory access to a guardian’s court-ordered psychological evaluation in an Indian child’s dependency case.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Morgovsky — Arms-export statute authorizes conspiracy regulation, defeating ineffective-assistance claim

automatic / August 31, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that federal arms-export authority supports the conspiracy regulation and rejected collateral attacks contradicted by the plea record.

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

Liu v. Kaiser Permanente Pension Plan — Substantial compliance can preserve an ERISA benefit election

automatic / August 31, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that California substantial-compliance principles can preserve an ERISA pension election despite incomplete technical steps.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Garcia Morales v. Blanche — Ninth Circuit rejects entry-based asylum restriction and requires full mixed-motive analysis

automatic / August 31, 2026

The Ninth Circuit invalidated an entry-based asylum restriction in an individual case and required the agency to apply the complete mixed-motive persecution test.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Espinosa — Compassionate release may rely on practical medical evidence, but recall still requires resentencing

automatic / August 31, 2026

A California appellate court upheld compassionate release while clarifying that sentence recall must be followed by resentencing and that parole conditions belong to the parole board.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Family Law

Marriage of Traweek — Domestic-violence conviction did not automatically bar spousal support

automatic / August 28, 2026

A domestic-violence conviction creates a rebuttable presumption, not an absolute bar, when a California court decides spousal support.

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

City of Los Angeles v. AFSCME — Labor board could order make-whole relief for failure to bargain over pension changes

automatic / August 28, 2026

A Los Angeles labor board could compensate employees for losses caused by the City's failure to bargain over the effects of a pension change.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights

Velocity Investments v. Nguyen — Debt buyer could not cure missing complaint documents by amending later

automatic / August 28, 2026

A debt buyer's amended complaint cannot erase liability for failing to attach consumer-specific debt documents to the original complaint.

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

In re Pride — Specific racial-bias allegation entitled prisoner to counsel and discovery

automatic / August 28, 2026

A specific allegation that trial attorneys discussed conviction in racial terms cleared the low thresholds for appointed counsel and Racial Justice Act discovery.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Immigration

Jacques v. Blanche — Government’s misdirected immigration notices violated due process

automatic / August 28, 2026

The government violated due process by pursuing immigration appeals through notices mailed to an address it knew was not the detainee's location.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration

Mbueno-Vita v. Blanche — Translation problems and trivial inconsistencies could not support adverse credibility finding

automatic / August 28, 2026

The Ninth Circuit rejected an adverse credibility finding built on trivial discrepancies and testimony distorted by evident interpretation problems.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Immigration

Parada Calderon v. Blanche — Torture claim cannot be rejected for lacking statistical proof

automatic / August 28, 2026

The Board of Immigration Appeals cannot demand statistical proof of torture when regulations require consideration of all relevant evidence.

California Supreme Court, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

People v. Hazlett — California Supreme Court Affirms Death Judgment in 1978 Cold-Case Murder

automatic / August 27, 2026

The California Supreme Court affirmed a death judgment in a reopened 1978 murder, rejecting jury-selection and prior-sexual-offense evidence challenges.

6th District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Srivastava v. BMW of North America — Named Manufacturer May Enforce Lease Arbitration Clause

automatic / August 27, 2026

A named vehicle manufacturer may enforce a lease arbitration clause, but the trial court must still decide whether its delegation clause is unconscionable.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Santistevan — Great-Bodily-Injury Enhancement Cannot Attach to Serious-Bodily-Injury Battery

automatic / August 27, 2026

A great-bodily-injury enhancement must be stricken when imposed on battery causing serious bodily injury based on the same injury.

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

Richards v. Newsom — Ninth Circuit Upholds Recording Rules for California Firearms Dealers

automatic / August 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld dismissal of First, Fourth, and Fifth Amendment challenges to California’s audiovisual-recording mandate for firearms dealers.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Business Transactions, Constitutional Law

Rocky Patel Premium Cigars v. Bonta — California Unflavored Tobacco List Survives Injunction Challenge

automatic / August 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held California’s tobacco-list requirement is saved from federal preemption and presently imposes only a minimal commercial-speech burden on premium cigar makers.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Collections & Creditor Rights, Labor & Employment Law

Cabardo v. Patacsil — Bankruptcy Appeal Must Await Final Dischargeability Decision

automatic / August 27, 2026

The Ninth Circuit dismissed a creditors’ bankruptcy appeal because a remand for trial left the overall dischargeability proceeding unfinished.

4th District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Hickenbottom v. Medical Solutions — New Contract Theory Did Not Permit a Second Arbitration Motion

automatic / August 26, 2026

A second motion relying on a different arbitration agreement was still a renewed motion because it sought the same order and had to comply with Code of Civil Procedure section 1008.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Patacsil v. Google — Ninth Circuit Upholds Cy Pres-Only Privacy Settlement

automatic / August 26, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld a $62 million cy pres-only settlement of Google location-tracking claims because direct payments to an estimated 247.7 million class members were infeasible.

1st District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation

Ari Law v. Autonation.com — Rescheduled Hearing Did Not Defeat Sanctions Safe Harbor

automatic / August 26, 2026

A later court-assigned hearing date did not invalidate a sanctions motion that was substantively identical to the version served before the 21-day safe harbor.

1st District Court of Appeal, Construction Law, Personal Injury & Tort, Real Estate Law

Schurman Family Company TIC v. Superior Court — Landlord Was Protected by Privette Delegation

automatic / August 26, 2026

A warehouse owner was protected by the Privette doctrine because its lease placed it upstream in the chain delegating the work and workplace safety to contractors.