California Courts of Appeal Decisions 2017

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal affirmed defendant's conviction for child molestation and false imprisonment by violence, holding that defendant's Abel test results were properly excluded in the guilt phase of his criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal presented the issue of whether the fees imposed on criminal defendants convicted of certain drug offenses were subject to additional penalty assessments under Penal Code section 1464 and Government Code…

Justia Opinion Summary: IAR believed that defendant, its former CEO, had embezzled money. IAR, represented by Valla, sued defendant. Valla, on behalf of IAR, reported the crimes to the Foster City Police. The district attorney charged defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Monterey County entered into an agreement with the Monterey County Deputy Sheriffs Association, including a longevity performance stipend that provided that a member of the Association who achieved 20 years of service…

Justia Opinion Summary: Overstock, an online retailer, compared the price at which it offered an item to an advertised reference price. Until 2007, it showed a “List Price” for the product, with the number stricken through; it then showed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Fred, age 86, and his 79-year-old wife, Martha, filed suit under the Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act. In the 1990s, before the defendants were involved, the couple purchased life insurance policies,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court found that plaintiff failed to prevail on any of his breach of contract claims because, while his evidence in support of those claims was "considerable," it was nonetheless "insufficient." The trial court…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Finance (DOF) determined that the Cooperative Agreement here was unenforceable under the freeze component. City of Galt filed a petition for writ of mandate, but the trial court upheld DOF’s…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of charges related to his involvement in receiving a stolen vehicle. The Court of Appeal found that the trial court did not abuse its discretion by choosing which records to disclose and which not…

Justia Opinion Summary: Where a plaintiff brings a lawsuit against a defendant, and the trial court denies a motion by the defendant for summary judgment or for nonsuit made after the plaintiff's case-in-chief, or the trier of fact returns a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, the District filed this lawsuit against MAG and several other defendants to address current and threatened groundwater contamination in northern Orange County. In its operative first amended complaint (FAC), the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2004, the District filed this lawsuit against a number of defendants to address current and threatened groundwater contamination in the North Basin. In its operative first amended complaint (FAC), the District alleged…

Justia Opinion Summary: Education Code section 17406 authorizes school districts to use lease-leaseback agreements for construction or improvement of school facilities: the school district leases its own real property to a contractor for a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case concerned residual pollutant discharges from public fireworks displays over the waters of the United States within the jurisdiction of the California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Diego Region (the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Pacific Bay treated an individual who was a subscriber to a Blue Shield health plan. It submitted invoices to Blue Shield for payment for the services rendered to the subscriber. Pacific Bay contends it was underpaid and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (Commission) notified Cornelius Oluseyi Ogunsalu that it had found probable cause to recommend the suspension of his preliminary teaching credentials for 21 days and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Attorney filed suit, seeking payment of unpaid fees. Client filed an answer and, one year later, asked for arbitration pursuant to his retainer agreement. The court compelled arbitration that resulted in no recovery by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant argued that the ability of a district attorney to petition for revocation of parole without first completing certain procedural steps and including in the petition information required when a revocation…

Justia Opinion Summary: G.F., a minor, moved to seal the records pertaining to his dismissed petition alleging that he possessed a sharpened letter opener on school grounds. The Court of Appeal held that G.F. was entitled to have his records…

Justia Opinion Summary: Notwithstanding the parties’ stipulated retroactivity provision, the California Court of Appeals concluded the trial court erred in awarding Russell Stover a child care credit for any period before May 10, 2011, when he…

Justia Opinion Summary: When ARB's adoption of low carbon fuel standards (LCFS) regulations in 2009 violated the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the Court of Appeal directed the issuance of a writ of mandate compelling ARB to take…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Bac Tieng Nguyen’s father called 9-1-1 to report that there was a man at his house who was making threats while carrying a large knife or samurai sword. Garden Grove Police Officers responded to the scene, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The vacant Morgan Hill parcel was designated, in the general plan, as “Industrial” until the city amended the plan to change its designation to “Commercial.” Its zoning was “ML-Light Industrial” before the amendment.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Garnes’s Richmond home was damaged by a kitchen fire. She had a fire insurance policy, with a limit of $425,000 from FAIR Plan Association, California’s insurer of last resort. Gaines claimed she should receive the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Chango filed suit against Applied for breach of contract, conversion, and fraud. On appeal, Applied purported to challenge the trial court's order denying its renewed petition to compel arbitration filed pursuant to Code…

Justia Opinion Summary: A freightliner driven by petitioners' employee struck a vehicle, causing serious injuries to the passengers, real parties in interest Matthew and Michael Lennig. The Lennings filed suit against the employee and…

Justia Opinion Summary: For over 40 years, San Francisco has had an ordinance that imposes a tax on parking lot users for the “rent” paid to occupy private parking spaces. Since 1980, the amount of the tax has been 25 percent of the rent;…

Justia Opinion Summary: Since 1972, Mendocino County has approved aggregate and asphalt production on the site; it approved a 2002 permit after review under the California Environmental Protection Act (CEQA). In 2009, the County proceeded under…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants appealed a civil enforcement action against them for violation of the unfair competition laws (UCL) arising out of their involvement in a complex real estate scam. The Court of Appeal affirmed and held that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed a petition for writ of mandate challenging the DOGGR's issuance of permits to Aera Energy for 214 new oil wells in the South Belridge Oil Field of Kern County. The trial court sustained defendant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The property was sold at a 1998 foreclosure sale. The Santa Cruz Superior Court ordered that United take possession from Michael Ioane. Michael’s wife, Shelly, filed for bankruptcy. The two filed an adversary proceeding…

Justia Opinion Summary: AMR provides ambulance services in more than 15 California counties, employing dispatchers, call takers, drivers, emergency medical technicians (EMT’s), paramedics and nurses. Plaintiffs, four current or former…

Justia Opinion Summary: Capacity manufactures “Trailer Jockey” semi-tractors. GFL became an authorized Capacity dealer under a 1995 franchise agreement. In 2013, Capacity notified GFL of its intent to terminate GFL’s franchise, alleging GFL had…

Justia Opinion Summary: Representing himself, Grappo filed a complaint that "could not have withstood a demurrer,” which was served on McKean, a man named in the caption but not identified in the complaint, who apparently had no relationship…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue was whether the trial court employed the correct legal standard in determining the reasonable value of appellant's emergency treatment of four patients as an interventional cardiologist. The Court of Appeal…

Justia Opinion Summary: Property owners Carolyn Kutzke and Karen Kapp applied to the City of San Diego (City) for a vesting tentative parcel map and related permits to allow them to subdivide two adjacent lots totaling 1.45 acres (property)…

Justia Opinion Summary: As part of their 2010 marital settlement agreement, respondent Misti Janes (Wife) was awarded $113,392 from the retirement account of appellant Tim Janes (Husband). In 2014, the money was still in the retirement account.…

Justia Opinion Summary: From 1999-2010, Wilcox made loans to Hardwick. In 2013, Hardwick filed suit to recover usurious interest and prevent Wilcox from foreclosing on the property securing his loans. Wilcox countersued for breach of contract…

Justia Opinion Summary: A workers' compensation insurance policy may be rescinded pursuant to Insurance Code section 650. A rescission is enforced by a civil action for relief based on rescission or by asserting rescission as a defense. In this…

Justia Opinion Summary: Dirck Van Audenhove sued Robert Perry for malicious prosecution, alleging that Perry contacted the police and falsely accused him of stalking, and that the police arrested him, but the district attorney’s office…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the denial of two petitions for resentencing under Penal Code section 1170.18, which is part of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47). At issue was the eligibility restriction…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2010, Stupp filed a petition for the dissolution of his marriage to Schilders. Since then, the parties have been involved in contentious legal proceedings. A stipulated judgment of dissolution was entered in 2014,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Act makes the builder who sells homes liable for violations without proof of negligence, while general contractors and subcontractors not involved in home sales are liable only if the plaintiff proves they…

Justia Opinion Summary: Police validly stopped defendant Jaime Cervantes for driving with expired vehicle registration. They searched his vehicle after they learned that the adult female riding in the front passenger seat had provided them with…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal granted Michele Clark's motion to dismiss this appeal of a post-judgment award for attorney fees and costs as frivolous. In this case, appellant has been declared a vexatious litigant in the Los…

Justia Opinion Summary: Momentum of car being stolen from dealership, while salesman attempted to intervene, was sufficient force to support carjacking conviction. Hudson stole an automobile from a dealer’s service garage by taking it without…

Justia Opinion Summary: Substantively, in three somewhat interconnected claims, Joe and Yvette Hardesty (collectively, Hardesty) attacked State Mining and Geology Board (Board) findings, contending the trial court misunderstood the legal force…

Justia Opinion Summary: As part of marital dissolution proceedings, appellant Valerie G. sought a domestic violence restraining order against her husband, respondent Louis G. The trial court denied the request. On appeal, Valerie contended the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to life without parole (LWOP) for special circumstance murder. While defendant's original appeal was pending, the United States Supreme Court decided Miller v. Alabama, (2012) 567 U.S. 460, which…

Justia Opinion Summary: Temporary staffing company Real Time Staffing Services, LLC doing business as Select Staffing (Real Time) hired Garcia in 2011 as an hourly employee. Real Time then assigned Garcia to work for Pexco, LLC. As part of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Trial court did not err in allowing the prosecutor to impeach expert witnesses during the sanity phase with defendant’s suppressed statements. Defendant attacked a stranger on a Santa Cruz street. stabbing her 12…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Orange County District Attorney (OCDA) appealed the trial court’s order granting Donta Campbell’s petition for writ of habeas corpus. The OCDA argued: (1) the court erred by granting the habeas petition without first…

Justia Opinion Summary: Where a ward’s compliance with probation conditions (Welfare and Institutions Code section 786) has been satisfactory for dismissal purposes, the court must seal the ward’s records in accordance with the statute. A…

Justia Opinion Summary: Although the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47) applies generally to juveniles as held in Alejandro N. v. Superior Court, (2015) 238 Cal.App.4th 1209, the search for statutory intent calls for a more…

Justia Opinion Summary: Whether a contract provision is an illegal penalty or enforceable liquidated damage clause is a question for the trial court; on review, appellate deference to that court’s factual findings is required. In 2005,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court properly considered evidence showing the development of a gas storage market that relied exclusively on surface acres as the valuation metric. This appeal arose out of a condemnation action in which…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal reversed the trial court's judgment in favor of the wife under Code of Civil Procedure section 631.8, holding that despite the form of the bank accounts, when clear and convincing evidence shows funds…

Justia Opinion Summary: Purported pre-plea waiver of right to preliminary examination within 60 days was ineffective. Figueroa was charged with felonies in July 2013. In August, before he entered a plea, the court declared a doubt as to his…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal granted a writ petition to vacate the trial court's order denying Ford's petition for coordination of add-on cases pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 404.1, concluding that a trial judge's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal held that a period of supervision following deportation is impractical and inconsistent with the goals and purposes of the legislation that mandates imposition of split sentences. At the time of his…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, the San Mateo Community College District adopted a facilities master plan, proposing new construction and facilities renovations at its three campuses. The Plan for College of San Mateo included demolishing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Trial court erred in adding a 10-year gang enhancement to each of defendant’s life sentences. In 2008, defendant and other members of his criminal street gang robbed, beat, and repeatedly sexually assaulted Jane Doe as…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal reversed the juvenile court's jurisdiction and disposition orders because, even assuming Daughter was at substantial risk of harm, the juvenile court erred in asserting dependency over her.…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Warrens owned and operated a Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership in Salinas for approximately 38 years. Intending to retire, the Warrens contacted a potential buyer, Dabney, who owned a Harley-Davidson dealership…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal held that the trial court may grant an equitable easement without there being a preexisting use by the landowner seeking the easement. Plaintiff filed suit seeking to establish easements for access to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal reversed the grant of summary judgment in favor of the City, holding that the trail immunity in Government Code section 831.4 does not immunize a dangerous condition of a commercially operated,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal denied the petition for writ of mandate and concluded, among other things, that the scope of questions asked by a judgment creditor in a third party judgment debtor examination may include the…

Justia Opinion Summary: When defendant HSBC Bank USA, N.A. (HSBC) notified plaintiff Stanley P. Berman in writing that HSBC was denying his application for a loan modification, HSBC told him he had 15 days to appeal the denial. Under the law,…

Justia Opinion Summary: A lawsuit filed primarily to chill the valid exercise of free speech is called a "SLAPP" suit and, if without merit, such an action may be dismissed early under Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. In this anti-SLAPP…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lee, who has a degree in business administration, began a tax consulting business in 1974. Starting in the 1990s, Lee convinced clients to invest significant amounts of money with him, telling them their funds would…

Justia Opinion Summary: Oswaldo, age 14, was declared a ward of the court and placed on probation after he admitted the allegation of a Welfare and Institutions Code section 602 petition that he committed misdemeanor battery on the property of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed a jury's finding that defendant inflicted great bodily injury (GBI) in committing the offense of selling or furnishing heroin. Anyone who personally inflicts GBI on anyone other than an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a middle school math teacher, filed suit against various defendants after she was involuntarily detained for mental health evaluation and treatment. Plaintiff alleged that school defendants did not have…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals reversed a judgment and order committing defendant indefinitely to the custody of the Department of State Hospitals after a jury found him to be a sexually violent predator (SVP) under the Sexually…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeals affirmed the juvenile court's exercise of jurisdiction to hear a petition declaring A.N. a habitual truant under Education Code, 48262, concluding that 26 unexcused absences during the first half of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellant International Fidelity Insurance Co. (Fidelity), acting through its agent King Stahlman Bail Bonds, posted a $100,000 bail bond on behalf of defendant Catalin Vaja who later failed to make a required…

Justia Opinion Summary: Overgrown weeds and rubbish on vacant lots constituted a public nuisance that required abatement despite owner’s assertion that the conditions on his properties, including high growing blackberry bushes, broom plants,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Psychotherapist-patient privilege does not protect subpoenaed records from disclosure to the Department of Consumer Affairs, because Business and Professions Code section 2225, a statute enacted after codification of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court made it clear that ordinarily, a conviction on any factual theory that is supported by the evidence will be upheld. The Court of Appeal concluded that this case, however, comes under an exception to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Competency evaluation and certification by the Department of Developmental Services and the Department of State Hospitals while detainee was awaiting transfer for treatment was permissible. The declaration and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court complied with California Rules of Court, rule 5.651(b)(2)(D) by sufficiently considering I.V.'s educational needs. I.V. appealed a dispositional order adjudging him a ward of the court pursuant to Welfare…

Justia Opinion Summary: R.S. acknowledged that he did not object to two issues he raised on appeal to the Court of Appeal; the Court determined R.S. forfeited those issues. R.S. was found trespassing on school grounds as a nonstudent. Officers…

Justia Opinion Summary: Substantial evidence supported the trial court’s finding that the "trigger petition" at issue in this case satisfied the parent signature requirement. The petition was submitted pursuant to the federal No Child Left…

Justia Opinion Summary: The First Appellate District reversed an award of $9,577,000 as the present cash value of plaintiff’s future medical and rehabilitation care expenses in an action for medical malpractice against Contra County Costa,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant challenged his conviction on two counts of lewd and lascivious acts upon a child under 14 years old, maintaining that the trial court prejudicially erred when it admitted a recorded telephone conversation…

Justia Opinion Summary: After defendant plead guilty to possession of ecstasy for sale, he challenged the trial court's denial of his motion to suppress evidence seized as a result of a warrantless entry and search of his home by law…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaza de Panama Committee (the Committee) appealed the denial of its motion for attorney fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 1021.5. The Committee filed the motion after it successfully appealed a judgment…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Sixth Appellate District directed the superior court to reconsider its denial of a motion to dismiss or stay a personal injury lawsuit under the doctrine of forum non conveniens. The suit was filed by a Canadian…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Court of Appeal granted the writ application of the employer, City of Jackson (City), after the Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (Board) disregarded the apportionment determination of the qualified medical…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Elder of gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated (Pen. Code, 191.5(a)); driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury (Veh. Code, 23153(a)); and driving with a blood-alcohol concentration…

Justia Opinion Summary: As successor to the former Redevelopment Agency of the City of Santa Maria, the City of Santa Maria owned parking facilities that were acquired and/or constructed with the proceeds of certain bonded indebtedness dating…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sanford was convicted of second-degree robbery and sentenced to four years in prison after a group of men, reported by witnesses to be African-American, robbed a jewelry store and escaped in two cars. By the time the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In Marina Pacifica Homeowners Assn. v. Southern California Financial Corp., this court determined that a monthly "assignment fee," payable by individual condominium unit owners to the developers of the condominium…

Justia Opinion Summary: Sixteen-year-old defendant Adrian Vela and one of his fellow gang members confronted two suspected rival gang members. Vela’s accomplice pulled out a gun and shot the two victims, killing one of them. The prosecutor…

Justia Opinion Summary: Until 2000, Sonoma County grape growers could plant or replant a vineyard “as a matter of right” without governmental approval. A 2000 ordinance, governing “grading, drainage improvement, and vineyard and orchard site…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Keith Costella, shot his victim, dumped his body in an undeveloped area next to a highway, and set fire to it. A jury convicted him of second degree murder and arson of forest land. The jury also…

Justia Opinion Summary: Nautilus, Inc. obtained a judgment against Stanley Kuo Hua Yang, and recorded an abstract of judgment against real property on which Stanley and his brother, Peter Chun Hua Yang, held title. Stanley and Peter transferred…

Justia Opinion Summary: B.M., seventeen years old, appealed from a juvenile court order declaring her a ward of the court and ordering her to serve 90 days in a juvenile justice facility. The juvenile court sustained a petition charging that…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2001, defendant Emigdio Valdez was convicted of possession of a sharp instrument in prison and assault by an inmate by means likely to cause great bodily injury. The trial court found true three prior strike…

Justia Opinion Summary: Real Party in Interest Margarita Rodas was granted probation in 2007 after entering a negotiated plea of no contest to transporting heroin under former Health and Safety Code section 11352. At the time, the statute…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2006, the City of San Diego (City) obtained a Site Development Permit (SDP) to construct a new lifeguard station on Mission Beach. The SDP stated that failure to utilize the permit within 36 months of its issuance…

Justia Opinion Summary: Edward, then age 14, grabbed a handbag from a 66-year-old woman and was apprehended by a police officer who saw him with the bag. A wardship petition alleged misdemeanor grand theft from the person (Pen. Code, 487(c)).…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against its former attorneys for legal malpractice and breach of fiduciary duty arising from defendants' representation of plaintiff in an earlier breach of contract action. In the published portion…

Justia Opinion Summary: Shantel Jackson filed suit against former boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, Jr., alleging, inter alia, claims for invasion of privacy, defamation, and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant plead no contest to attempted murder and admitted to sentencing allegations. On appeal, defendant argued that his plea and conviction should be vacated because the trial court committed reversible error under…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Phillip Baranchik and Eric Baranchik filed suit under 42 U.S.C. 1983, alleging, among other things, claims of excessive force, false arrest, and malicious persecution. The trial court subsequently granted a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against her three siblings, on behalf of her 88-year-old mother. Plaintiff claimed that her siblings' actions individually and while serving as trustees of her mother's revocable living trust…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against her former employer, SCPMG, alleging that the company refused to rescind her resignation in violation of the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), Gov. Code, 12940 et seq., and public…

Justia Opinion Summary: While assigned to fight a wildfire, plaintiff and appellant Rebecca Megan Quigley was severely injured when a water truck ran over her as she slept at the fire base camp. She sued, inter alia, defendants-respondents…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs-parents Gabrielle A. and Nicholas G., and John A. and Gregory A. (the children) appealed a judgment following the trial court’s decision to grant a motion for summary judgment by the County of Orange (the…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case presents the question of whether sentencing judges, in cases where the state sentence is ordered to run concurrently with a foreign sentence, must issue an order directing the Department of Corrections and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The juvenile court terminated defendants-appellants, J.K.’s (Mother) and J.S.’s (Father; collectively Parents), parental rights as to J.S. (born in June 2014). On appeal, Mother argued: (1) the appeal must be construed…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this original proceeding, the issues presented for the Court of Appeal’s review related to a confidential attorney-client communication. The trial court found that plaintiff and real party in interest Richard Hausman,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Deanna Huntley challenged the trial court's denial of her motion to divide unadjudicated community property. Deanna filed her motion more than two years after entry of a default judgment that dissolved her marriage to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of aggravated kidnapping, forcible rape, forcible sodomy, and related deadly weapon and one-strike allegations after abducting the victim at knifepoint and assaulting her in an isolated parking…

Justia Opinion Summary: The California Constitution provided that litigating parties could stipulate that the matter may be heard and decided by a temporary judge. Without qualifying a commissioner to act and without such a stipulation, any…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found defendant-appellant David Lua guilty of one count of transportation for sale of a controlled substance, as well as a misdemeanor count of simple possession of a controlled substance, a lesser included…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. The offense was committed in 1979, when petitioner was 17 years old. In 1982, at age 20, he pled guilty to assault with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a petition for writ of mandate and complaint for declaratory and injunctive relief, challenging the City's finding that a project was exempt from formal environmental review under the California…

Justia Opinion Summary: A construction company paid its employee only for the hours he worked at a jobsite. But rather than driving his vehicle directly from his home to the jobsite, the company expected the employee to first commute to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Thomas, a member of the Board of Directors of Applied Medical Corporation, was removed from the Board in January 2012, Applied exercised its right to repurchase shares of its stock issued to Thomas as part of stock…

Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2015, Bechtol was charged with a DUI committed within 10 years of a prior felony DUI conviction (Vehicle Code 23152(a), 23550.5(a)), and driving with a blood alcohol content of more than .08 percent within 10…

Justia Opinion Summary: Officials of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (the Department) challenged the trial court's order granting a petition for writ of habeas corpus filed by Gregory Rhoades, a Native American…

Justia Opinion Summary: K.B. appealed a judgment terminating her parental rights to her two children, Jc.L. and Ja.L. K.B. contended the juvenile court erred in terminating her parental rights because the court failed to comply with "the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Brady Douglas’s former boyfriend, a male prostitute, told him “Jeffrey B.” had shorted him money following a prearranged sexual encounter. Defendant and codefendant Clifton Sharpe tracked down Jeffrey and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In June 2012 the voters of City of San Diego (City) approved an initiative, the "Citizens Pension Reform Initiative" (hereafter, CPRI), which adopted a charter amendment mandating changes in the pension plan for certain…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Tovar of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder based on his participation in the 2010 killing of Afoa. The court of appeal affirmed, rejecting an argument that insufficient evidence…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant filed a Penal Code section 1170.18, subdivision (f) petition, seeking to have his 2002 felony petty theft with a prior conviction designated a misdemeanor. The trial court denied the petition, impliedly…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner Inland Counties Regional Center, Inc. (IRC) was ordered to assess the competency of real party in interest, Adan Omar Barajas, to stand trial on criminal charges. When IRC failed to comply, it was held in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The State Air Resources Board (ARB) was charged with achieving the goal of regulating greenhouse gas pursuant to the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006, Health & Saf. Code, 38500 et seq. At issue are the low…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Joseph Sharpe, with several other men, went to someone else’s marijuana garden in the night to steal some plants. Confronted by the owner, the men knocked the owner down and fled. The owner pursued until one of…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the interpretation, and application of Water Code section 51200 and articles XIII C and XIII D of the California Constitution, as approved by California voters in 1996 as Proposition 218, and the…

Justia Opinion Summary: A medical device company, Heart Tronics, purchased directors and officers liability insurance policies from AXIS and HCC. The AXIS policy has been exhausted. Plaintiff, Heart Tronics' de facto officer, filed suit against…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007 a fire spread from defendant Lambirth Trucking Company’s storage site to plaintiff Vincent Scholes’ property. Scholes’ sued alleging negligent trespass, intentional trespass, and strict liability against…

Justia Opinion Summary: Two consolidated cases involved the California Global Warming Solutions Act of 2006 (the Act), popularly known as “AB 32”). The Act was passed by a simple majority vote of both legislative houses. Its general purpose is…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found appellants-defendants Marcellus Lee, Daniel Romero and Francisco Martinez, Jr. guilty of fraud in the offer or sale of commodities. Lee and Romero were also convicted of conspiracy and grand theft of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Rowe, age 12, suffered catastrophic injuries during a family camping trip at San Mateo County Memorial Park, when a tree fell on his tent as he lay sleeping. Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E) owns and maintains an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with acquisition or retention of access card account information with the intent to use it fraudulently, based on her possession of two Bank of America credit cards belonging to her neighbors (count…

Justia Opinion Summary: R.C. appealed the juvenile court's denial of his petition to adjust his parental status from alleged to presumed father. The juvenile court had also terminated R.C.'s parental rights. The court concluded that, although…

Justia Opinion Summary: Officers saw a vehicle rolling backwards without lights. Parrott exited from the driver’s side and pushed the car to the curb. The officers approached, offering assistance as Parrott began to lift the hood. Parrott said…

Justia Opinion Summary: The landlord filed a unlawful detainer action against Nancy, her adult son Donn, and Donn‘s wife Olga, alleging that they refused to vacate a unit in a building that was withdrawn from residential rental use pursuant the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against their employer, Safeway, for failure to pay overtime wages. On appeal, plaintiffs argued that the trial court's findings that they spent the majority of their time at work engaged in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with attempted murder with special allegations of personal infliction of great bodily injury, and personal use of a deadly weapon (count 1); and assault with personal use of a deadly weapon, with…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his convictions of second degree attempted robbery and four convictions of second degree robbery, arguing that the trial court violated his constitutional right to a public trial by excluding his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Appellants Arthur Young and John Young, as Trustees and on behalf of the J.S. Abbott Trust, sought a permit to demolish a small cottage on a parcel of land located in Coronado, California (the City). Because the cottage…

Justia Opinion Summary: Juan Carlos Argulo failed to appear in court after Financial Casualty authorized its agent to issue a $100,000 bail bond guaranteeing Angulo's court appearances. The trial court issued a "no bail" warrant for Argulo's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed her convictions for drug, firearm, and ammunition possession. The court concluded that defendant's Miranda rights were not violated; substantial evidence supported the finding that defendant was armed;…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of possessing a concealed, loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle. On appeal, defendant challenged the trial court's term of supervision requiring defendant submit to searches of text messages,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Smith was one of three people extracted from a vehicle involved in a single-car rollover accident. Smith’s blood alcohol content (BAC) was 0.24 percent. He was charged with driving under the influence causing injury and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Escobar was an employee of O’Donnell, a sub-subcontractor of Bayside, which was a subcontractor of Oltmans, the general contractor on a Menlo Park construction project. Escobar sued Oltmans and the property owner,…

Justia Opinion Summary: A.T. is enrolled in high school. Her attendance is regular; she earns passing grades. She was riding with another minor in a car driven by her brother, also a minor with no delinquent history. Police stopped the car…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal, the parties asked the Court of Appeal to determine the value of a blank check for the purpose of distinguishing between misdemeanor and felony receiving stolen property after passage of the Safe…

Justia Opinion Summary: Garcia died in August 2011 after receiving multiple stab wounds. Mendoza, Martell, and Ramirez were convicted following a joint trial, for second degree murder (Pen. Code 187, 189) with gang enhancements (section…

Justia Opinion Summary: Santa Cruz County adopted three ordinances that extended minor exceptions to zoning site standards; altered certain height, density, and parking requirements for hotels in commercial districts; and established an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Romo was a volunteer firefighter for Marinwood from 1989-1991 and for the San Antonio Volunteer Fire District, 2002-2006. Beginning in 2006, he was employed full time as a paid Mill Valley firefighter. While working…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant entered a no contest plea, in which he admitted a prior strike based on three out-of-state state felony convictions. Before pleading no contest, he moved to dismiss the prior felonies on the ground that the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this writ proceeding, Daniel Ramirez sought review of his independent medical review (pursuant to his workers' compensation claim) on the ground the underlying utilization review was based on an incorrect standard. In…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, the president and CEO of American Apparel, filed suit against Standard General, alleging several causes of action stemming from his claim that Standard General's press release, regarding investigations into…

Justia Opinion Summary: The patriarch-settlor appointed defendant Melissa Reynoso (a granddaughter of the settlor) as trustee of his estate. In this proceeding, the trial court determined Reynoso was the most reliable and credible of the family…

Justia Opinion Summary: A criminal complaint charged petitioner Shawn Melcher with two counts of assault with a deadly weapon on a peace officer and other crimes. One of petitioner’s alleged assault victims was Alan Serpa. Serpa’s wife, Barbara…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, defendant was convicted of second-degree robbery and petty theft. The court found true allegations that defendant had two prior convictions that qualified as strikes under the Three Strikes law. For the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Judgment was entered in favor of plaintiff Amanda Quiles and against defendant Arthur Parent, Jr. Parent satisfied the damages portion of the judgment. Parent’s appeal related solely to the awards of attorney fees and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, writers and producers who entered into a profit participation agreement with Walt Disney Pictures regarding their work on the television series, Home Improvement, filed suit alleging that Disney failed to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a member of the HOA, requested inspection of the HOA's membership list and other records. After the HOA largely denied the request, plaintiff filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking to compel the HOA to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner, convicted of two counts of first degree murder and two counts of attempted robbery, argued on direct appeal that insufficient evidence supported the jury's finding true the Penal Code section 190.2 special…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Muhammad Iqbal appealed the grant of summary judgment entered against his complaint for personal injuries. In 2011, plaintiff sued Yosemite Auto Sales, Inc. (Yosemite Auto), its owner Eyad Kaid, and Alla…

Justia Opinion Summary: Bernice Espinoza appealed the denial of her petition for writ of administrative mandate challenging the one-year suspension of her driver’s license by the Department of Motor Vehicles (Department). After review, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants-appellants City of Riverside (City) and Riverside Police Chief Sergio Diaz appealed the grant of a petition for writ of mandate filed by plaintiff-respondent Camillo Bonome, Jr. Bonome had been employed as a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Petitioner County of Riverside (the County) challenged Workers’ Compensation Appeals Board (WCAB) findings that the application for adjudication of claim by respondent Peter Sylves was timely filed, and that Labor Code…

Justia Opinion Summary: Farrar was hired by Direct Commerce as its vice-president of business development and negotiated an employment agreement set forth in a six-page offer letter detailing her compensation, additional bonus structure, and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant John Riddles pled guilty to one count of workers' compensation insurance fraud. His conviction grew out of his application for workers' compensation insurance, which fraudulently represented that a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involved the interplay between two criminal law statutes: Penal Code section 490.2 (petty theft) and Vehicle Code section 10851 (unlawful taking or driving a vehicle). Defendant Charles Van Orden appealed the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Court of Appeals’ review centered on the propriety of a discovery referee’s order imposing $100,000 in discovery sanctions against defendants Alieu B. M. Conteh (Conteh), Odessa…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant petitioned to have his felony conviction for second degree burglary, Pen. Code, 49, redesignated as misdemeanor shoplifting, and for resentencing. The trial court concluded that defendant's conviction did not…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, the court of appeal upheld the probate court’s decision to grant the petition of Alexander Hughes, the sole noncontingent trust beneficiary (and trustor Mark Hughes’ only child), to suspend and remove trustees…

Justia Opinion Summary: Two trial courts invalidated San Francisco ordinances increasing the relocation assistance payments property owners owe their tenants under the Ellis Act, Gov. Code 7060, finding the ordinances facially preempted by the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Three health care workers sued their hospital employer in a putative class and private attorney general enforcement action for alleged Labor Code violations and related claims. In this appeal, their primary complaint was…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, jury convicted defendant of possession of methamphetamine for sale. The trial court found defendant had three prior narcotics sales convictions and sentenced defendant to 11 years in county jail pursuant to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Richard Sheley (decedent) formed and operated a corporation, George's Pest Control, Inc. Cross-complainant/respondent Nancy Sheley, the decedent's wife at the time of his death, owned a 25 percent share in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In consolidated dependency actions, Mother contested the juvenile court's detention and dispositional orders temporarily denying her visitation to her infant son. In the published portion of the opinion, the court joined…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of first degree murder and the jury found defendant personally and intentionally discharged a firearm causing death. In the published portion of the opinion, the court discussed why any error in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Selina Angel had two jury trials on three charges. At the first trial, the jury acquitted defendant of the third count of committing a lewd or lascivious act on John Doe 2 (JD2), a minor under 16…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Lamonte Russell and codefendants, Ronald Butterfield and Eric Williams, were charged with committing attempted murder, aggravated mayhem, torture, and assault with a deadly weapon. The trial court severed…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury found that the mesothelioma contracted by James Lester Phillips was caused in part by exposure to asbestos contained in Bendix brakes, Honeywell challenged the $5.8 million awarded to Phillips's wife and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jason P., a sperm donor, sought to establish that he is a legal parent of a child conceived through in vitro fertilization (IVF) using his sperm, and that he is entitled to joint legal and physical custody of the child…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Philip Mejia appealed his conviction for torture, spousal rape, spousal abuse, and criminal threats. The Court of Appeal rejected his contention that the court should have conducted a hearing pursuant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Luther Darnell Stapleton, Jr. pleaded guilty to petty theft with a prior. Defendant stole less than $950 worth of property from a Target store in 2014. Defendant had prior theft-related convictions,…

Justia Opinion Summary: ECC appealed a final arbitration award of almost $7 million against them and in favor of Manatt. ECC argued that the trial court erred in confirming the interim award because the arbitrator violated mandatory disclosure…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother of Z. appealed the trial court's order awarding child support from Father, a successful director and producer, in an amount that deviated downward from the statewide uniform guideline by a substantial amount. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-appellant Residents Against Specific Plan 380 appealed the denial of its petition for a writ of mandate to challenge the County of Riverside’s (County) to approve development of a master-planned community put…

Justia Opinion Summary: In three related actions, three separate plaintiffs sought the return of seized property based on the ground that government agencies failed to comply with the statutory requirements for nonjudicial forfeiture.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Tom Phung was 17 years old when he and fellow Tiny Rascal Gang (TRG) members, riding in about five cars, chased a fleeing vehicle containing eight rival gang members. A TRG member shot and killed one rival and…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City settled a class action suit in 2012, Chakhalyan v. City of Los Angeles, alleging that the City had an unlawful practice of charging a trash disposal fee to customers living in multi-unit dwellings who received…

Justia Opinion Summary: Nicholas Behunin filed suit against Charles Schwab and his son Michael Schwab over an unsuccessful real estate investment deal. Behunin's attorneys, Leonard Steiner and Steiner & Libo, engaged a public relations…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of transportation of methamphetamine and possession of methamphetamine for sale. Three prior prison term enhancement allegations were found true in a bifurcated court trial and those prior…

Justia Opinion Summary: John Jarman (later represented by his daughter, Janice Jarman, as successor in interest), sued HCR ManorCare, Inc., and Manor Care of Hemet, CA, LLC, (collectively, "Manor Care"), which owned and operated a nursing home…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs each bought skin puncture lancets and glucose test strips from retail pharmacy stores owned and/or operated by defendants. When plaintiffs purchased these items, the retail pharmacies charged them "sales tax"…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Nancie Walent successfully challenged her dismissal from employment, the District appealed the award of attorney's fees to Walent. The trial court determined that a lodestar calculation was the appropriate…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed from the juvenile court's adjudication order declaring him a ward of the court and sustained a petition filed by the People alleging that defendant had committed vandalism charges based on his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against the Bank, alleging violations of the federal Truth in Lending Act (TILA), 15 U.S.C. 1601 et seq., and California's unfair competition law (UCL), Bus. & Prof. Code, 17200 et seq., fraudulent…

Justia Opinion Summary: Steven Salas pleaded no contest to domestic violence and the trial court sentenced him to three years in prison. The trial court also ordered Salas to pay victim restitution of $17,194.45, including $14,055.48 for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Proposition 57 eliminated the State's ability to directly file charges against a juvenile offender in adult court and instead authorized the State to file “a motion to transfer the minor from juvenile court to a court of…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a jury found that defendant, an attorney, had breached the standard of care in failing to properly implement plaintiff's express instruction to maintain her assets as her separate property in the trust document…

Justia Opinion Summary: Father appealed the dependency court's termination of Mother and Father's parental rights over their children. The court concluded that Father's failure to challenge the January 27, 2016, order (terminating reunification…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a Machine Zone (MZ) employee posted a review on Glassdoor's website disclosing confidential information regarding MZ's RTPlatform technology, MZ filed suit against the employee for violation of a nondisclosure…

Justia Opinion Summary: Cervantes was 14 years old when he attacked a 13-year-old girl and her 20-month-old brother. After breaking into their home, he stabbed them repeatedly as they slept, raped and sodomized the girl, forced her to orally…

Justia Opinion Summary: The San Francisco County Human Services Agency filed a Welfare and Institutions Code section 300 petition on behalf of the Minor. At an initial detention hearing, Father appeared. The court appointed counsel. Counsel…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Gary Lynn Shanks died in a head-on collision with another motorcycle on a state highway, the jury in the ensuing wrongful death action determined that the State and the operator of the motorcycle were at fault.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Cesar Villa-Gomez appealed after he was tried and convicted by a jury on multiple assault and gang-related counts arising out of a group attack on fellow prisoners in the Yuba County jail. He was sentenced to…

Justia Opinion Summary: The minor was 13 years old when he engaged sexual conduct with a four-year-old boy and seven-year-old girl. Pursuant to a negotiated agreement under Welfare and Institutions Code section 6021, the minor admitted one…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Townhouse Motel in Crescent City first became a subject of code enforcement efforts in 2006. Until 2013, the city repeatedly ordered Reddy to abate dangerous conditions. In 2013, following an inspection, the city…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the Labor Commissioner awarded Anthony Stratton approximately $6,000 in unpaid wages and penalties against Thomas Beck, Stratton's former employer, Beck unsuccessfully appealed the award to the superior court under…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother challenged the juvenile court's order terminating parental rights over her three children. The court agreed with mother that the juvenile court erred by initially granting her a hearing on her Welfare and…

Justia Opinion Summary: At issue in this case was whether Gateway Community Charters (Gateway), a nonprofit public benefit corporation that operated charter schools, was an “other municipal corporation” for purposes of Labor Code section 220,…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Vega-Robles of conspiracy to sell controlled substances, attempted robbery, and two first-degree murders, and found true gang and firearm enhancements. He appealed, challenging gang experts’ testimony…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Westlake Health failed to vacate Westlake Village, plaintiff filed suit for unlawful detainer. Westlake Health argued that its lease was senior to the deed of trust and that the notice to quit was invalid because…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff-respondent Roberto Betancourt sued his employer, defendant-appellant Prudential Overall Supply (Prudential). In Betancourt's complaint, he alleged Betancourt and other Prudential employees worked over eight…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Mendocino County Department of Social Services filed a Welfare and Institutions Code section 3001 petition concerning three minors, alleging their mother was unable to care for them, and that Father’s whereabouts…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of two counts of assault with a firearm. At issue in the published portion of the opinion was the jury's finding that defendant committed the offenses for the benefit of a criminal street gang.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Stephen Lucero was shot to death several hours after he and fellow gang members, defendants Alberto Lara, Issiah Flores, and Aurelio Espinoza, III burglarized a house in Stockton, taking an assortment of electronics and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Terry Shorts sexually assaulted and murdered 13-year-old Jessica S. in 1996, shooting her in the head and leaving her half-naked body in a park in the middle of the night. Sixteen years later, he was connected…

Justia Opinion Summary: Johnson sued automotive parts manufacturers for injuries alleged to have been caused by secondary exposure to asbestos or asbestos-containing materials, claiming that he suffered exposure from asbestos contamination…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City filed a petition for writ of mandate seeking an order directing the trial court to vacate its order and enter a new order denying a motion to compel discovery. Real Party in Interest Cynthia Anderson-Barker…

Justia Opinion Summary: Former counsel moved to withdraw from representing a client, alleging another attorney had agreed to handle (and was already handling) postjudgment motions, and that the other attorney would also handle the appeal of an…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Association filed a property tax refund suit against the County under Revenue and Taxation Code section 5140. The County argued that the action was barred because the Association failed to file a timely refund claim…

Justia Opinion Summary: On March 21, 2011, S.M. made a police report stating that someone had broken the window of his parked car and stolen his laptop computer. S.M.’s insurer, State Farm, told him that his policy did not cover the loss. …

Justia Opinion Summary: Haniff was employed as a delivery truck driver when he was injured in a motor vehicle accident while unloading packages from his parked truck on the Stanford campus. According to Haniff, an automobile owned by Kim and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Icke, a chiropractor, was convicted of sexual penetration by fraudulent misrepresentation of professional purpose. (Pen. Code 289(d)(4)). The jury found that Icke digitally penetrated a client for a sexual purpose…

Justia Opinion Summary: In February 2016 proponents submitted to the Napa County Registrar of Voters their initiative petition. After initially certifying that the initiative qualified for placement on the ballot, the registrar rejected the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, former sales associates for Stoneledge, filed a class action complaint alleging that Stoneledge's commission pay plan did not comply with California law. The court held that employees paid on commission are…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, a homeowner in Rancho Palos Verdes, submitted an application to his HOA, seeking to invoke the HOA's dispute resolution process against a neighbor who refused to trim trees blocking defendant's views.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Yolo County District Attorney Jeff Reisig on behalf of the State of California (plaintiff), filed this civil action against the Broderick Boys criminal street gang (a/k/a BRK a/k/a BSK a/k/a Norteno a/k/a Norte a/k/a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant John Fenley was elected to the Trinity County Board of Supervisors in the June 7, 2016 election. Contestant Firenza Pini filed a contest in the superior court 20 days after certification of the final canvass,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Stephen Kaplan appeals from a judgment confirming a $30 million arbitration award against him. This matter arose when several investors (plaintiffs1) sued Kaplan and a limited liability company (referred to as Houston…

Justia Opinion Summary: Respondent Angela Vandiver pled guilty in 2012 to a single felony count of receiving stolen property based on her possession of blank checks she knew had been stolen. She later petitioned to have the conviction…

Justia Opinion Summary: Gonzalez challenged an administrative order declaring that she should be reported to the statewide child abuse index for what was deemed excessive discipline of her 12-year old daughter. She had spanked the girl with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Profitt was charged with felony driving under the influence of alcohol (DUI) and misdemeanor driving with a license suspended for prior DUI convictions. The trial court bifurcated trial on three prior DUI convictions…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against defendants after he was suspended from his position as a physician at Cedars-Sinai. The suspension stemmed from plaintiff's operation on a young patient, which resulted in complications…

Justia Opinion Summary: Diana Lemke challenged the trial court’s granting of summary judgment in favor of respondents Sutter Roseville Medical Center, Peter V. Hull, M.D., Debbie Madding, and Julie Fralick (collectively Sutter Roseville). Lemke…

Justia Opinion Summary: Felipe Malago appealed certain mandatory supervision conditions related to alcohol consumption, alcohol testing, alcohol treatment, and substance abuse treatment. Malago contended the superior court abused its discretion…

Justia Opinion Summary: “The trial judge in this case exercised uncommon common sense” in this case: appellant Michael James Jackson was faced with having to choose between revealing damaging information to the judge about to hear his bench…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed her carjacking conviction and sought a petition for habeas relief based on ineffective assistance of counsel. The court held that there was sufficient evidence to support the jury's finding that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed the denial of her petition for dismissal of two misdemeanor convictions under Penal Code section 1203.4a. The court reversed and remanded, concluding that the fact that defendant served a prison term…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996 Brown Field Aviation Ventures leased space at Brown Field Airport from the City of San Diego under a long-term, master lease agreement. Brown Field Aviation Ventures subleased the space to Bearden Aviation, Inc.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to 65 years in prison after being convicted of sodomy of a person under age 10, two counts of oral copulation with a person under age 10, and two counts of lewd acts on a child. In this appeal,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against his former employer, WaveFront, for wrongful termination. On appeal, plaintiff challenged the trial court's award of $8,125.00 in attorney fees to WaveFront. The court rejected plaintiff's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit after StanCERA implemented several changes to the actuarial calculations used to determine how to amortize unfunded liabilities within the retirement system and chose to utilize so-called…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury found defendant Jorene Nicolas guilty of vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence. Defendant was on her phone and texting while driving on the freeway. The victim had been in her car, stalled in a traffic jam.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Police responded to a home burglary alarm in Corte Madera at the Ryborg/Fellows home and encountered Lena in the neighborhood, with fresh mud on his trousers. The Ryborg/Fellows home was near a hillside thick with mud. …

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs-appellants Gail Lynn (Mrs. Lynn), individually and as executor of the Estate of Brian Griffin Lynn (Mr. Lynn), and Randy Lynn, (son) appealed the grant of summary judgment entered in favor of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1996, Vieira acquired a Capitola mobile home park. According to the deed, part of the western boundary was the center line of Rosedale Avenue, a 40-foot-wide private road. The apparent boundary was different because…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jane Doe, a minor, was sexually abused by Fabrizio, her former soccer coach. Fabrizio, who had a prior conviction for battery against his spouse, pleaded no contest to continuous sexual abuse of a child and lewd and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the trial court ruled on a petition for writ of administrative mandamus pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 1094.5, Golden Day appealed the trial court's holding regarding certain findings of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Department and the child challenged the dismissal of a juvenile dependency petition after an adjudication hearing under Welfare and Institutions Code section 300. The petition was the result of allegations of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Percy Camel killed two men in separate criminal incidents. Convicted of two counts of first degree murder and other crimes and sentenced to two consecutive indeterminate terms of life without the possibility of…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant and another man went to a drug dealer’s home for the purpose of purchasing a quarter-pound of methamphetamine. Defendant was carrying two cell phones, a large knife in a concealed sheath, another knife in a…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stems from the simultaneous refinancing of a home equity line of credit by two different lenders in 2006, which resulted in a dispute over the priority of their recorded deeds of trust. On appeal, Bank of New…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the seventh appeal arising from a 20-year multi-phase litigation, the issue presented for the Court of Appeal’s review centered on whether the trial court had authority to award approximately $281,000 in receivership…

Justia Opinion Summary: Faris Alsafar appealed the extension of his period of commitment to a state mental hospital as a mentally disordered offender (MDO). He argued the trial court violated his constitutional right to equal protection when it…

Justia Opinion Summary: Lauron had two Chase credit cards, one ending in 5285 and one ending in 5274. The Cardmember Agreement for 5274 stated that: “THE TERMS AND ENFORCEMENT OF THIS AGREEMENT AND YOUR ACCOUNT SHALL BE GOVERNED AND…

Justia Opinion Summary: Black called Knarr to suggest a real estate investment. Knarr gave Black $124,456, documented by a May 2006 promissory note. Knarr testified that he would not have invested without a promised 10 percent return if sale or…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1997, Clark was convicted of indecent exposure and sentenced to a prison term of 26 years to life under the “three strikes” law. He had prior convictions for the same offense and two for lewd and lascivious conduct…

Justia Opinion Summary: Argentieri was an attorney for Ceglia in Ceglia’s suit against Zuckerberg and Facebook. That suit was dismissed as a fraud on the court and for spoliation of evidence. Zuckerberg and Facebook then sued Argentieri for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit for dental malpractice, alleging Dr. Nahigian had negligently performed oral surgery on her and Dr. Matar, as Dr. Nahigian's principal and employer, was vicariously liable for Dr. Nahigian's…

Justia Opinion Summary: The People appealed from the trial court's grant of defendant's writ of habeas corpus. The court agreed with the People's contention that the reclassification of defendant's 2009 felony conviction of petty theft with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was injured after a motorcycle crash with defendant Aram Tonakanian, who was driving a green and white taxi marked with United's insignia. After the jury found that Tonakanian was United's agent, but not an…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs John and Jane Doe appealed an order granting the State Department of Justice's special motion to strike under the anti-SLAPP statute. In their lawsuit, the Does alleged civil rights violations, negligence,…

Justia Opinion Summary: During defendant’s 19th birthday party, a confrontation occurred between defendant’s father and Barcenas. Defendant observed two men hitting her father; she claims they pushed her when she attempted to separate the men…

Justia Opinion Summary: Five recruit officers of the LAPD filed suit against the City after the Department terminated or constructively discharged them because they could not obtain the necessary medical clearance to return to the Police…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother and presumed father challenged the juvenile court's order under Welfare and Institutions Code section 366.26 terminating their parental rights to Breanna and David, and identifying adoption as the permanent plan…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case stems from the arrest of Joshua Corbett in Sandra Bullock's home where he was charged with 26 offenses, including stalking, burglary, and firearm offenses. The People seek a writ of mandate compelling the trial…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff contended the trial court erred by not accepting the parties‘ stipulation to continue a hearing on defendant‘s summary judgment motion and the trial for 60 days. The parties had agreed to these continuances to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Presley, certified as a mentally disordered offender (MDO), was placed into an outpatient conditional release program (CONREP) in 2013. He was initially housed at a board and care facility, with weekly drug screening,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was arrested following an undercover sting operation. Officers contacted a 16-year-old female offering sexual services through an online advertisement. The minor agreed to meet at a hotel and have sexual…

Justia Opinion Summary: Shalizi purchased an apartment building and wanted to move into unit four. Geraghty had been renting unit four for 22 years and was paying $938 a month. Shalizi’s attorney sent a letter informing Geragthy that…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the juvenile court terminated Father and Mother's parental rights to their children, Grace and Michael, Father argued that the juvenile court erred in finding the beneficial parent-child relationship exception to…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal stemmed from an application Mercury Casualty Co. (Mercury) filed in 2009 to increase its homeowners’ insurance rates. In denying the increase Mercury requested, the California Insurance Commissioner (the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Acting pro se, Clay Jones sued his former attorney, Alan Whisenand, for legal malpractice and civil rights violations allegedly committed in the course of civil commitment proceedings under the Sexually Violent Predator…

Justia Opinion Summary: Khary Watson challenged his sentence of life without the possibility of parole (LWOP) for committing felony murder when he was only four months shy of his 18th birthday. Watson's offense occurred after he chased down a…

Justia Opinion Summary: The issue this case presented for the Court of Appeal's review centered on the notice and time requirements of the Right to Repair Act (the act), Civil Code section 895 et seq. The Court granted petitioner William…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Giovanetti told police checks had been stolen from her business. Lowery tried to cash one of the checks in the amount of $1,047. The cashier suspected the signature was not genuine and called Giovanetti, who…

Justia Opinion Summary: Price, then age 20, Fells, and Brown participated in a robbery during which one of them shot and killed 22-year-old Merrill. The Contra Costa District Attorney entered into plea agreements with Fells and Brown that…

Justia Opinion Summary: Leighton sued Forster for breach of an attorney fee contract and an account stated, seeking damages in excess of $114,000. In granting Forster summary judgment, the trial court found that an engagement letter Leighton…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against Marlon Wayans and others, alleging, inter alia, that he was the victim of racial harassment during his day of work as an extra on Wayans's movie. Wayans moved to strike plaintiff's claims as…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Melissa Nichols was charged in an information with the murder of James Payne, gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated, driving under the influence of alcohol causing injury to Payne and Kandis Maddox,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Citizens for Odor Nuisance Abatement (CONA) appealed the trial court's grant of summary judgment in favor of the City of San Diego and Todd Gloria (in his capacity as former interim mayor of San Diego (collectively, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: A jury convicted Jose Martinez of continuous sexual abuse of a child under the age of 14. The court sentenced him to twelve years in prison. The court separately ordered him to pay the victim $150,000 in restitution for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, serving 25 years to life for a commercial burglary, filed a petition under the Three Strikes Reform Act, Penal Code section 1170.126, alleging that commercial burglary was not a serious or violent felony and…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Leigh Anne Flores injured plaintiff in an auto accident, plaintiff filed suit against Flores and Pacific Bell, her employer, for damages. Flores was driving a van Pacific Bell had furnished to her, but that she…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009 Husband filed a divorce petition. The couple had a house on a ranch in Lemon Cove, purchased by Husband before the marriage. Wife maintained the ranch. Husband, who worked in the Silicon Valley, flew to the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jacobs, a licensed California real estate broker, had the “exclusive and irrevocable right” to sell a Marin County parcel for one year. The listing price was $2,200,000; if Jacobs procured a buyer during the listing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a registered nurse, filed suit against the Hospital, alleging violations of the California Labor Code and other statutes relating to meal and rest breaks, unpaid wages, and unpaid overtime compensation. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: N.S. was placed in foster care at age 11. After she turned 18 in 2014, she remained under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court as a nonminor dependent. (Welf. & Inst. Code 11400(v)), having been diagnosed with…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit alleging nine causes of action as to seven limited partnership transactions. The gravamen of the suit was that a private placement memoranda’s description of a real estate commission to be paid by…

Justia Opinion Summary: The issues presented by this case concerned the effects of the elimination of a tax increment and dissolution of the Santa Ana Redevelopment Agency on the five stipulated judgments.Petitioners Hilda Cuenca, Claudia…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon (count 1), possession of a firearm by a felon (count 2), and misdemeanor resisting or obstructing a peace officer (count 3). As to count 2, the jury additionally…

Justia Opinion Summary: Western filed suit against La Cumbre for breach of an indemnity agreement where Mark J. Melchiori signed the agreement on La Cumbre's behalf as a managing member. In actuality, he was the managing member of La Cumbre's…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was convicted of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury, battery resulting in great bodily injury, and involuntary manslaughter. The jury found true an enhancement alleging defendant…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff was injured during a high school football game and was provided ambulance services by defendant. Plaintiff filed suit alleging that the standby ambulance crew was grossly negligent in not properly assessing his…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant pled no contest to a felony grand theft involving property with a value exceeding $950 and admitted having served three prior terms, one of which resulted from his 2010 conviction for three counts of second…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs borrowed $110 million in 2007 from Bear Stearns to finance the purchase of Rincon Towers, a San Francisco apartment complex. In 2010, after plaintiffs failed to repay the loan and after changes in the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The trial court denied appellant's petition for writ of administrative mandamus seeking to overturn the denial of his claim for services under the Lanterman Developmental Disabilities Services Act (Lanterman Act), Welf.…

Justia Opinion Summary: After Mother was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol with her two children in the car, the Department filed a dependency action seeking juvenile court jurisdiction over the children. Mother and Father…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs Andrew and Kathi Kalnoki (the Kalnokis) appealed a judgment dismissing their second amended complaint for wrongful foreclosure-related causes of action after the trial court sustained the defendants’ demurrers…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Public Employment Relations Board (the Board or PERB) concluded the Orange County Water District (the District) committed an unfair practice when it refused to consent to an election petitioned for by the recognized…

Justia Opinion Summary: Van sued her employer, Language Line, alleging discrimination because of her Vietnamese background, harassment based on her race, and various wage and labor law violations. Starting in May 2014, Language Line began…

Justia Opinion Summary: The beneficiary of a trust seeks the value of “opportunities lost” resulting from the trustees’ refusal or neglect to distribute trust assets to the beneficiary. William Morgan created an irrevocable subtrust for the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed suit against her neighbor for trespass and negligence after the neighbor hired workers to cut down the limbs and branches of six trees located on plaintiff's property. The trial court trebled plaintiff's…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the Court of Appeal dismissed the appeal of plaintiffs-appellants William and Linda Hensley from a nonappealable stipulated judgment pursuant to a settlement agreement, the Hensleys and defendant-respondent San…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff OC Interior Services, Inc. (OCI) purchased real property knowing about a recorded default judgment in the chain of title that vacated the lien interest of the predecessor-in-interest to appellants Deutsche Bank…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a putative class action against Wet Seal, alleging that the company violated the Labor and Business and Professions Codes, Industrial Welfare Commission Wage Order No. 7, and Title 8 of the California…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant appealed his conviction for first degree murder and kidnapping. Defendant initially waived his right to remain silent under Miranda v. Arizona, but then invoked the right prior to confessing to the murder by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant attempted to fill a forged prescription that was written on a prescription pad stolen from a physician. She was charged, in 2013, with second-degree commercial burglary (Penal Code 459) and attempted possession…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 1998, petitioner was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder. The court of appeal affirmed and, in 2007, denied a habeas petition. In 2015, petitioner sought post-conviction production of “discovery materials”…

Justia Opinion Summary: Under Proposition 47, Kevin Mallard sought and received a reclassification of his felony conviction of possession of concentrated cannabis. He sought immediate release from county jail on the grounds he was being…

Justia Opinion Summary: Q.R. recorded photographs and video on his cellular phone of consensual sexual activity between himself and Jane Doe, both under 18 years old. He later extorted money from Doe by threatening to disclose the recordings to…

Justia Opinion Summary: M.C., a gestational carrier, challenges the trial court's declaration that Father is the sole legal parent of triplet children and finding that M.C. has no parental rights. M.C. entered into the surrogacy arrangement…

Justia Opinion Summary: Acqua Vista Homeowners Association ("the HOA") sued MWI, Inc. ("MWI"), a supplier of pipe used in the construction of the Acqua Vista condominium development. The operative third amended complaint contained a claim for a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a felony complaint, the prosecution charged Blake Hudson with three counts of willfully failing to timely file tax returns for three consecutive years with the intent to evade paying a tax. A magistrate presided over…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was sentenced to 50 years to life in prison after he was convicted of first degree murder of his wife. The court concluded that defendant forfeited any claim of prosecutorial misconduct by failing to object;…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff, a quarter horse trainer, appeals the trial court's denial of his petition for a writ of administrative mandamus. Specifically, petitioner challenges a license suspension and fine imposed upon him by the Board…

Justia Opinion Summary: In a longstanding dispute between Central San Joaquin Water Conservation District (Central), which supplies surface water to agricultural customers, and Stockton East Water District (Stockton East), which operates the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2013, a golf ball struck Miguel Leyva in the eye while he and his wife, Socorro Leyva, walked along a public path adjacent to the Bonita Golf Club. The Leyvas appealed summary judgment entered in favor of Crockett and…

Justia Opinion Summary: San Diego police officers Carlos Robles and Kyle Williams initiated contact with plaintiff Kenneth Simmons for being in a city park after it closed and for riding a bicycle in the dark without a headlight. Simmons fled.…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Derrick Sledge appealed an order denying his petition for resentencing under one of the statutes that was enacted in 2014 as part of the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act (Proposition 47). The trial court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Mother‘s childhood was marked by abuse and neglect. When she was 13 years old she began an abusive relationship with Carl, a 20-year-old dropout. Their child, Carl Jr., was born when Mother was 14. While still a…

Justia Opinion Summary: After the juvenile court found by clear and convincing evidence that there was a substantial danger to the children and no reasonable means to protect them other than removal from father's custody, the juvenile court…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff filed a series of lawsuits challenging Chase's efforts to foreclose upon his real property. In this appeal, plaintiff challenges a judgment of dismissal entered after the trial court sustained the demurrer of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In lieu of adjudging minor J.G. a ward of the court based on his commission of trespass and felony vandalism, the juvenile court granted minor deferred entry of judgment and placed him on probation with terms and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant Andrew Garcia was sentenced to 35 years to life after a jury convicted him as an adult of attempted murder and other charges for robbing and shooting a woman in the face when he was 15 years old. In this…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, petitioner Sandra Hudson, acting as secretary of the board of directors for the Palo Verde Healthcare District (PVHD), voted to approve two contracts between PVHD and Hussain Sahlolbei, M.D. One pertained to…

Justia Opinion Summary: MID, an irrigation district, petitioned for a writ of mandate, challenging the trial court's conclusion that MID was not a "municipal corporation" for purposes of Public Utilities Code section 10251. The court concluded…

Justia Opinion Summary: Government Code section 53094(b) authorizes “the governing board of a school district” to “render a city or county zoning ordinance inapplicable to a proposed use of property by the school district,” under certain…

Justia Opinion Summary: This appeal arose out of Victor Garrett and Erion Varnado’s participation in armed robberies and an attempted armed robbery in November 2008. Both Garrett and Varnado were 17 years old when the offenses were committed,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In July 2015, plaintiff-respondent San Bernardino County Children and Family Services (CFS) was contacted by the maternal grandmother of five children whose mother, defendant-appellant M.G. (mother), had “left the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, sixteen-years-old at the time of the crimes, was convicted of one count of second degree murder and two counts of attempted willful, premeditated, and deliberate murder. The court concluded that defendant's…

Justia Opinion Summary: In early 2016, petitioner (the State) initiated a prosecution against real party in interest, a minor who was detained at juvenile hall, by directly filing a criminal complaint against him in adult court. Preliminary…

Justia Opinion Summary: Guy Miles served 19 years of his 75 years to life sentence in state prison. A jury convicted him of armed robbery . For all of those years, Miles has claimed that he was wrongfully convicted. The Court of Appeals…

Justia Opinion Summary: The juvenile court dismissed Joshua R.’s juvenile adjudication after he successfully completed probation. The court declined to seal his record, however, because of an ongoing probation condition stating he was not…

Justia Opinion Summary: After a bus rollover accident in Arizona caused injuries and deaths, plaintiffs filed suit seeking to recover in strict liability. Plaintiffs, Chinese nationals, are the passengers who were injured, and the survivors of…

Justia Opinion Summary: A "squabble" erupted between family members over the property of the deceased patriarch. The patriarch-settlor appointed defendant Melissa Reynoso (a granddaughter of the settlor) as trustee. In this proceeding, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: On September 24, 2010, plaintiffs filed a civil complaint. Plaintiffs were the "heirs" to the Alta Dena Dairy fortune built by the Stueve family. Defendants were several attorneys and law firms. The causes of action…

Justia Opinion Summary: N.S. was placed in foster care when she was 11 years old. After she turned 18 in 2014, she remained under the jurisdiction of the juvenile court as a nonminor dependent. (Welf. & Inst. Code, 11400(v).) N.S. had been…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendants Jarrod, Alphonso, James, and Jonathan appeal their convictions for multiple counts of kidnapping to commit another crime, second degree robbery, kidnapping, and felony false imprisonment, in connection with a…

Justia Opinion Summary: When arrested by law enforcement, defendant and admitted felon Sherone Bradley possessed a firearm he admitted possessing before and during the charged offense. Defendant was ultimately convicted of being a felon in…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control (Department) issued a 15-day suspension of an off-sale general license held by the Garfield Beach CVS LLC Longs Drug Stores California LLC, doing business as CVS Pharmacy…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2015, Appellant Mic Goodrich filed a motion seeking reclassification of his underlying 2007 felony theft offense under Proposition 47. The court granted the motion, which was unopposed. At the time Goodrich petitioned…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant, approached by police after he was identified as the perpetrator of a robbery, threatened and resisted officers, making reference to his gang affiliation. At trial, the prosecution‘s gang expert testified…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant was charged with possession of cocaine base for sale (Health & Saf. Code, 11351.5) and possession of heroin for sale (section 11351). In 2013,he entered a plea of no contest to possession of a controlled…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Leticia Bareno appealed a judgment entered in favor of defendants San Diego Miramar College (the College), San Diego Community College District, and San Diego Community College District Administrative…

Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2015, police detained defendant M.F. at his high school after he gave one of his teachers a letter stating that she "should be worried about getting shot." When detained, he was wearing an empty holster. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: Bernice Espinoza appealed when her petition for writ of administrative mandate challenging the one-year suspension of her driver’s license by the Department of Motor Vehicles (Department) was denied. After review, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Swart is a small family-owned corporation, incorporated in Iowa, with its place of business and headquarters in Iowa. At issue is whether the franchise tax applies to Swart, whose sole connection with California is a 0.2…

Justia Opinion Summary: During a traffic stop for speeding and driving without a front license plate, the officer recognized the smell of marijuana in the car and saw marijuana particles. During a search, the officer found about $47,000,…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jeffrey E. and Anna M., parents of A.E., share equal custody of the child. After Anna sought a child support award, evidence established that Davis F., Anna's friend and A.E.'s godfather, financially supports Anna and…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs filed suit against defendants, lawyers and their law firms, alleging defamation and other causes of action. The action arose from statements two lawyers made on television and radio programs about a pending…

Justia Opinion Summary: The District Attorney of El Dorado County convened a criminal grand jury and issued subpoenas to witnesses in connection with a peace officer's 2015 fatal shooting of a suspect, deliberately waiting until 2016 in order…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, petitioner Anthony Cook, Jr. was convicted for two counts of murder and one count of attempted murder, for which he received a sentence of 125 years to life. Petitioner was 17 years old at the time of the…

Justia Opinion Summary: Epperson and two codefendants armed themselves with guns and forcibly entered the Eustice home, where they threatened, robbed and attempted to rob Eustice and her guests. Police arrived while the robbery was ongoing…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, mandated reporters, filed suit alleging that the Child Abuse and Neglect Reporting Act (CANRA), Pen. Code, 11164 et seq., violates their patients' constitutional right to privacy. CANRA requires certain…

Justia Opinion Summary: Oswaldo Gonzalez appealed a postjudgment order granting a petition under Penal Code sections 1203.2 (b), and 3455(a), to revoke his postrelease community supervision (PRCS). The trial court found that Gonzalez, who was…

Justia Opinion Summary: This matter arose from Whitney Engler's use of a medical device, the "Polar Care 500," manufactured by Breg, Inc. (Breg) and prescribed by David Chao, M.D. Engler suffered injuries as a result of her use of the Polar…

Justia Opinion Summary: In its order of dissolution for the marriage of respondent Colleen McLain and appellant Bruce McLain, the family court: (1) ordered Husband to pay Wife $4,000 per month in spousal support; (2) awarded Wife $5,500 in…

Justia Opinion Summary: Starski identified himself as a lawyer in a demand letter to a business, claiming that his “client” (Cornett, his mother’s husband) had been injured at the business. The manager was suspicious and contacted authorities,…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2009, Pamela Silva filed an action against her former employer, See's Candy Shops, Inc., alleging wage and hour violations. Silva brought the action in her individual capacity, on behalf of a class of See's Candy…

Justia Opinion Summary: From 1980 through 2012, the City of Escondido (City) supplied water through a single water meter to a residential condominium homeowners association, and starting in 2006 billed for sewer services per gallon of water…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Town of Apple Valley (Town) and real-party-in-interest and appellant Wal-mart Stores, Inc. (Walmart) appealed the grant of the motion for summary judgment in favor of plaintiff-respondent Gabriel…

Justia Opinion Summary: Defendant-appellant Ross Stores, Inc. (Ross) appealed the denial of its motion to compel arbitration. Plaintiff-respondent Martina Hernandez was employed at a Ross warehouse in Moreno Valley, and filed a single-count…