Supreme Court of California Decisions 2024

Justia Opinion Summary: Giles Albert Nadey, Jr. was convicted of unlawful sodomy and first-degree murder for the killing of Terena Fermenick. The jury found that both offenses involved the use of a knife and that the murder occurred during the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Angelica A. (mother) and Luis C. (father), who have two children, Dezi C. and Joshua C. In 2019, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) filed petitions to assert…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Jeremiah Ira Williams, who was sentenced to an indeterminate prison term of 100 years to life plus 86 years and two months for committing multiple forcible sexual offenses under California's One Strike…

Justia Opinion Summary: Victor Raul Tellez was charged with three counts of lewd or lascivious acts upon a child and faced a maximum prison term of 12 years. On the advice of his attorney, he accepted a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michael R. Rattagan, an Argentinian lawyer, was retained by Uber Technologies, Inc. through its Dutch subsidiaries to assist with launching Uber's ridesharing platform in Argentina. Rattagan also agreed to act as the…

Justia Opinion Summary: David Meinhardt, a police officer, was suspended for 44 hours by the City of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety, a decision upheld by the City of Sunnyvale Personnel Board. Meinhardt filed a petition for a writ of…

Justia Opinion Summary: The City of Los Angeles contracted with PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) to modernize the billing system for the Department of Water and Power (LADWP). The rollout in 2013 resulted in billing errors, leading the City to sue…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Angelica A. (mother) and Luis C. (father), who have two children, Dezi C. and Joshua C. In 2019, the Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services (Department) filed petitions to assert…

Justia Opinion Summary: Kenneth D. was born prematurely and tested positive for amphetamine and syphilis. His mother admitted to using methamphetamine during her pregnancy. The Placer County Department of Health and Human Services filed a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In June 2012, Maurice Walker assaulted a woman and a 78-year-old man in Los Angeles. Walker was convicted of assault with a deadly weapon, elder abuse, and misdemeanor battery. The jury found true the enhancement…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiffs, employees of a hospital operated by Alameda Health System (AHS), alleged that AHS violated California labor laws by denying meal and rest breaks, failing to keep accurate payroll records, and not paying full…

Justia Opinion Summary: In June 2017, Scotlane McCune crashed a vehicle into a tree while driving without a license, injuring his passenger, Miguel Villa. McCune fled the scene, leading to charges of felony hit and run with injury and…

Justia Opinion Summary: John’s Grill, Inc., a restaurant in San Francisco, suffered significant financial losses during the COVID-19 pandemic and sought compensation from its property insurer, Sentinel Insurance Company, Ltd. Sentinel denied…

Justia Opinion Summary: Wilson next argues that the trial court erred in admitting statements he made to detectives after the break when he was outside smoking with Detective Hagen. As Wilson notes, Detective Hagen agreed to end the interview…

Justia Opinion Summary: Robert Ward Frazier was convicted by a jury of the murder, forcible rape, and forcible sodomy of Kathleen Loreck. The jury also found true two felony-murder special-circumstance allegations. At the penalty phase, the…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves three Lyft drivers, Tina Turrieta, Brandon Olson, and Million Seifu, who each filed separate lawsuits under the California Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) against Lyft, Inc. for…

Justia Opinion Summary: Deandre Lynch was convicted of three counts of domestic violence resulting in a traumatic condition and one count of simple assault. The trial court imposed an upper term sentence based on eight aggravating…

Justia Opinion Summary: Twanda Bailey, an African-American employee, sued the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office, former District Attorney George Gascon, and the City and County of San Francisco for racial harassment and retaliation under…

Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2019, the City of Sunnyvale Department of Public Safety imposed a 44-hour suspension on Officer David Meinhardt, which was upheld by the City of Sunnyvale Personnel Board. Meinhardt challenged the suspension by…

Justia Opinion Summary: Peter Quach filed a lawsuit against California Commerce Club (Commerce Club) after being terminated from his job at the casino where he had worked for nearly 30 years. Quach's complaint included claims of wrongful…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Business and Professions Code section 7451, enacted through Proposition 22, which classifies app-based drivers for companies like Uber, Lyft, and DoorDash as independent contractors rather than…

Justia Opinion Summary: Jayde Downey was on the phone with her daughter, Malyah Jane Vance, giving driving directions when Vance was severely injured in a car crash. Downey heard the collision and its immediate aftermath but could not see what…

Justia Opinion Summary: Plaintiff Katherine Rosenberg-Wohl procured a homeowners insurance policy from State Farm Fire and Casualty Company, which covered various risks including fire. After her neighbor fell on her staircase, she discovered…

Justia Opinion Summary: A former employee sued her employer, Charter Communications, Inc., alleging discrimination, harassment, and retaliation under the Fair Employment and Housing Act (FEHA), as well as wrongful discharge. Charter moved to…

Justia Opinion Summary: Michael Allan Lamb was convicted of first-degree murder, attempted murder of a peace officer, conspiracy to commit murder, unlawfully carrying a loaded firearm in public as a gang member, possession of a firearm by a…

Justia Opinion Summary: In January 1992, J. Sacramento Benitez was killed during a residential burglary and attempted robbery. Luis Ramon Manzano Arellano and two co-defendants were charged with murder, attempted robbery, and first-degree…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves five large water utilities and an association representing investor-owned water utilities' interests, collectively referred to as the Water Companies. The Water Companies sought to overturn an order by…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Nicholas Needham, who was referred for evaluation as a possible Sexually Violent Predator (SVP) under the Sexually Violent Predator Act (SVPA) after serving his prison term for certain sex offenses. Two…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves John Harris, Jr., who was charged with attempted first degree murder and aggravated mayhem related to a violent rape committed over 30 years ago. The charges were based on a DNA match between Harris and…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a dispute over the interpretation of the "learned intermediary doctrine" in a product liability case involving a medical device. The plaintiff, Michelle Himes, sued the defendant, Somatics, LLC,…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of California ruled that the Taxpayer Protection and Government Accountability Act (TPA), a proposed initiative measure, could not be placed on the November 2024 general election ballot. The TPA sought…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case of The People v. Giles Albert Nadey, Jr., the defendant was convicted of one count of unlawful sodomy and one count of first-degree murder for the killing of Terena Fermenick. The jury found that both…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a dispute over insurance coverage for continuous injury claims. The plaintiff, Truck Insurance Exchange, was a primary insurer for Kaiser Cement and Gypsum Corporation. Truck filed an equitable…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of California reviewed a case involving the University of California, Berkeley's (UC Berkeley) plan to build a housing project on a site called People's Park. The plaintiffs, Make UC a Good Neighbor and…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2021, the California Legislature passed Assembly Bill 333, known as the STEP Forward Act of 2021. This bill amended Penal Code section 186.22, imposing new requirements relating to gang enhancements and the criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: A dispute arose over whether a transfer of property from a family corporation to a trust constituted a "change in ownership" under California's Proposition 13, which would trigger a reassessment of the property's value…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2019, Emily Wheeler, a property owner, was charged with various violations of the Los Angeles Municipal Code related to unlicensed cannabis activity on her property. Wheeler, who was 85 years old and had no criminal…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of California, Another Planet Entertainment, LLC, a live entertainment venue operator, sued its insurer, Vigilant Insurance Company, for denying its claim for coverage of…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2007, Ishmael Michael Carter was committed to Coalinga State Hospital pending trial on a petition to commit him as a sexually violent predator (SVP) under the Sexually Violent Predator Act. After waiting for trial for…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Gustavo Naranjo and other plaintiffs who worked as guards for Spectrum Security Services, Inc. The plaintiffs alleged that Spectrum violated state regulations governing meal breaks by not providing…

Justia Opinion Summary: In May 2019, police officers detained Marlon Flores in a Los Angeles neighborhood known for narcotics and gang activity. The officers observed Flores standing alone near a parked car, ducking behind it as they…

Justia Opinion Summary: The case involves Weldon K. McDavid, Jr., who was convicted of conspiracy to commit murder and attempted premeditated murder. McDavid, a shooting instructor, had a romantic relationship with Diana Lovejoy, who was going…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of California was asked to interpret a witness dissuasion statute, Penal Code section 136.1, subdivision (b)(2), in a case involving defendant Raymond Gregory Reynoza. Reynoza was found guilty of…

Justia Opinion Summary: A group of non-convicted individuals detained at the Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County, California, filed a lawsuit against the county and a private contractor, Aramark Correctional Services, LLC. The detainees were…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of California considered whether a health care agent, who had signed two contracts with a skilled nursing facility on behalf of a principal, had the authority to sign an optional, separate arbitration…

Justia Opinion Summary: This case involves a wage dispute between an employee and his employer. The employee, George Huerta, filed a class action against his employer, CSI Electrical Contractors, seeking payment for unpaid hours worked. The…

Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court of California, in a case involving a dispute over California's lemon law, ruled in favor of the plaintiff, Lisa Niedermeier. Niedermeier had purchased a new Jeep Wrangler from FCA US LLC, which was…

Justia Opinion Summary: In California, the People v. Hardin case involves the defendant, Tony Hardin, who is serving a life sentence without parole for a special circumstance murder he committed at age 25. Hardin challenged the…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of California held that a trial court has discretion to grant or deny relief from a jury trial waiver under section 631(g) of the Code of Civil Procedure. The court is not required to…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case, the Supreme Court of California was asked to interpret the "collective engagement" requirement under the California Penal Code section 186.22(f) and its application to the proof of predicate offenses. This…

Justia Opinion Summary: In this case before the Supreme Court of California, the court interprets the provisions regarding the modification of a revocable trust under California Probate Code sections 15401 and 15402. The dispute revolves around…

Justia Opinion Summary: In 2019, the California Supreme Court ruled that the defendant, Oscar Manuel Vaquera, did not receive fair notice of the sentence that the prosecution was seeking in his case, which violated his right to due process.…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the case before the Supreme Court of California, the dispute revolved around a residential driveway in Sierra Madre and raised a significant question about the law of easements. The plaintiffs, Tatana Spicakova Romero…

Justia Opinion Summary: Glen Taylor Helzer pleaded guilty to five counts of murder and multiple other charges, including robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy. After a penalty trial, he was sentenced to death for the five counts of murder. An…

Justia Opinion Summary: In the Supreme Court of California, the case revolved around the question of whether trial courts have the inherent authority to dismiss a claim under the Labor Code Private Attorneys General Act of 2004 (PAGA) on the…