4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law

People v. Solis — Knife-use admission and circumstantial evidence supported actual-killer finding

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Court of Appeal held that a knife-use admission plus the surrounding evidence supported an actual-killer finding and denial of Penal Code section 1172.6 relief.

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

Adom v. CDCR — ADA accommodation duty does not turn solely on medical necessity

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that CDCR could not defeat an ADA accommodation claim solely by deeming requested incontinence supplies medically unnecessary.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Constitutional Law, Criminal Law

United States v. Gessen — Murder-for-hire can be a continuing offense supporting California venue

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit held that murder-for-hire can be charged as a continuing offense and that an undercover intermediary need not genuinely agree to the killing.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Administrative Law, Immigration

Perez-Castillo v. Blanche — Immigration persecutor bar has no implied duress defense

automatic / September 8, 2026

The Ninth Circuit independently interpreted the immigration persecutor bar and held that it contains no implied duress defense.

4th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Hawthorn — Guilty Plea Does Not Preclude Resentencing Issues, but Error Was Harmless

automatic / September 4, 2026

A guilty plea does not preclude factual litigation at a Penal Code section 1172.6 hearing, though Hawthorn failed to show the error changed the result.

6th District Court of Appeal, Criminal Law, Litigation

People v. Stammers — Inflammatory Messages Unrelated to Charged Conduct Denied Defendant a Fair Trial

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Sixth District reversed a sexual-assault conviction because inflammatory messages with little connection to the charge became improper propensity evidence and denied a fair trial.

1st District Court of Appeal, Family Law, Litigation

Marriage of Trousset and Kelley — Family Court Must Make Express Need-Based Fee Findings

automatic / September 4, 2026

A family court must expressly compare access to litigation funds and ability to pay before denying need-based fees under Family Code section 2030.

3rd District Court of Appeal, Business Transactions, Litigation, Real Estate Law

Urban Sunrise v. Vogt — Dual Agents Defeat Fiduciary Claims Over Failed Commercial Property Deals

automatic / September 4, 2026

The Third District upheld summary judgment for dual real-estate agents because the buyer failed to produce a triable issue on the fiduciary breaches it pleaded.

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

Guzman v. Superior Court — Indigency Can Support Reduced Appeal Bond Despite Significant Assets

automatic / September 4, 2026

A court may reduce an appeal bond for an appellant with significant assets when the evidence shows those resources cannot support the much larger required undertaking.

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

Inland Empire Waterkeeper v. Corona Clay Company — Sackett Change Requires New Trial on Temescal Creek’s Federal Status

automatic / September 3, 2026

The Ninth Circuit ordered further proceedings on whether Temescal Creek remains federally covered after Sackett while holding that coverage is a merits issue, not jurisdictional.

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

Urias-Gaxiola v. Blanche — Noncitizen must be allowed to prove counsel’s factual admission was wrong

automatic / September 2, 2026

The Ninth Circuit required an immigration judge to hear evidence that counsel’s written admission about a noncitizen’s entry was factually wrong.

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

United States v. Nasri — Foreign forfeiture requires control over the property

automatic / September 2, 2026

Due process requires actual or constructive control over foreign property before a federal court may exercise in rem forfeiture jurisdiction.

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, Banking & Finance, Business Transactions, Litigation

Construction Laborers Pension Trust v. Funko — Risk disclosures can mislead when the warned-of harm already exists

automatic / September 2, 2026

Funko shareholders plausibly alleged fraud where risk disclosures treated existing inventory and technology failures as merely hypothetical future problems.

4th District Court of Appeal, Estate Planning, Probate and Tax Law, Litigation, Probate

Sandford v. Sandford — Trust equalization clause cannot revive time-barred claims

automatic / September 2, 2026

A trust equalization clause covering loans and gifts did not permit a court to revive time-barred claims over decades of family property income.

5th District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Labor & Employment Law, Litigation

Stallion Springs Medical Services v. Superior Court — Staffing company owed no common-law fair-procedure hearing

automatic / September 2, 2026

A physician staffing corporation was not a quasi-public institution and owed no common-law fair-procedure hearing before ending a staffing relationship.

4th District Court of Appeal, Administrative Law, Environmental Law, Litigation

Comite Civico del Valle v. County of Imperial — Lithium project EIR lacked support for long-term water supply

automatic / September 2, 2026

Imperial County’s lithium-project EIR lacked evidence of a 50-year water supply and failed to analyze related mitigation and air-quality risks.

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

In re J.C. — Juvenile transfer barred because 15-year-old was apprehended before jurisdiction ended

automatic / September 2, 2026

A person accused of murders committed at 15 could not be transferred to adult court because he was apprehended while juvenile jurisdiction remained available.

4th District Court of Appeal, Healthcare Law, Litigation, Personal Injury & Tort

Godshall v. Peterson — Ongoing symptoms did not conclusively start malpractice limitations clock

automatic / September 2, 2026

Triable issues remained over when an injury from carpal-tunnel surgery manifested, so the malpractice action could not be dismissed on limitations grounds.

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, 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.

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.