2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Ammons — Voluntary-intoxication instruction did not prejudice attempted-murder verdict

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Second District held that any omission from a voluntary-intoxication instruction was harmless because the jury found intent to kill and the record foreclosed a different premeditation finding.

4th District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Litigation

Sujan v. UHS Corona — Physician had to exhaust hospital peer-review remedies before damages suit

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Fourth District affirmed summary judgment because a physician failed to exhaust hospital peer-review remedies and upheld the related attorney-fee award.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Litigation

Blue Lake Rancheria v. Kalshi — Tribes likely to prevail against sports event contracts under IGRA

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that California tribes were likely to prevail on an IGRA challenge to sports event contracts, while rejecting their Lanham Act theory.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Criminal Law

United States v. Mendonsa — Sentencing enhancement may use abuse outside the conviction offense

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit upheld a child-pornography sentencing enhancement based on abuse outside the conviction offense and reliable state records.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Intellectual Property, Litigation

Doe v. GitHub — AI code-output allegations did not state a DMCA metadata claim

automatic / September 16, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that programmers did not state a DMCA claim because they failed to allege removal of copyright information from copies of their own code.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Civil Procedure, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Meehan v. Aguirre — A Plaintiff’s Final Section 998 Offer Controls Cost Shifting When the Judgment Falls Between Successive Offers

automatic / September 15, 2026

A plaintiff who increases a section 998 demand cannot rely on a lower earlier offer when the judgment fails to beat the final valid offer.

1st District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Civil Procedure

Sakach v. County of Marin — Clerk’s Improper Rejection Did Not Make Administrative Appeal Late

automatic / September 14, 2026

A clerk’s unsupported rejection of a timely administrative appeal did not make the appeal late; the notice was deemed filed when first submitted.

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

Caltrans v. Herc Rentals — Cargo Shipper May Share Fault for Unsafe Loading

automatic / September 14, 2026

A cargo shipper may share negligence liability when its own loading choices create an unsafe load, despite duties imposed on the carrier and driver.

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

Szewczyk v. OCERS — Regularly Scheduled Jail Overtime Counts Toward County Pensions

automatic / September 14, 2026

Mandatory overtime embedded in the normal schedule of Orange County jail deputies counted as compensation earnable for pension purposes.

2nd District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Singh — Lost College Scholarship Was Proper Victim Restitution

automatic / September 14, 2026

A rape victim’s lost college scholarship was a compensable economic loss, and the defendant had no right to a jury determination of its amount.

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.