Case # | Name | Category | Court | Judge | Published |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
24-3093
|
U.S. v. Bryant
Despite being sentenced to 70 years when he was 16 years old, defendant's youth, as a standalone factor, was not enough to warrant compassionate release. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
R. Nelson | Jul. 22, 2025 |
S169090
|
People v. Choyce
Claims of prosecutorial misconduct were forfeited where neither a timely objection regarding misconduct was made nor any jury admonishment sought despite several sustained, contemporaneous evidentiary objections. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
K. Evans | Jul. 22, 2025 |
22-50266
|
U.S. v. Ghanem
Refusing offense-level reduction for accepting responsibility was not clear error where the defendant's conduct, including attempting to minimize his involvement in the offense, was inconsistent with accepting responsibility. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Collins | Jul. 18, 2025 |
B329858
|
People v. Reyes
Trial court did not err by admitting significant evidence about defendant's gang affiliation during the guilt phase of bifurcated murder trial where the affiliation was relevant to motive and intent. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
T. Cody | Jul. 18, 2025 |
F086534
|
People v. Lara
Regional center expert should have been appointed by trial court to evaluate defendant's competency to stand trial when record showed that a sufficient basis regarding defendant's developmental disability existed. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
M. Snauffer | Jul. 18, 2025 |
S173784M
|
Modification: People v. Oyler
Despite media coverage of wildfire set by capital murder defendant, trial court correctly denied change of venue motion given the large size of the county and other factors. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
P. Guerrero | Jul. 18, 2025 |
B333097
|
People v. Thompson
Statutory distinction for resentencing petitions between juveniles sentenced to life without parole and juveniles sentenced to 50 years to life did not violate equal protection. |
Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law |
|
R. Adams | Jul. 16, 2025 |
A168292
|
Modification: People v. Munoz
Despite not requiring unanimity amongst jurors as to which specific overt act was required for conspiracy to commit murder, jury instructions did not violate Sixth Amendment. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Chou | Jul. 15, 2025 |
B338909
|
People v. Valle
Statute criminalizing possession of "sharp instruments" by prisoners was not unconstitutionally vague as applied to defendant who hid a sharpened piece of plastic in his mattress. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
K. Yegan | Jul. 15, 2025 |
23-572
|
U.S. v. Petrushkin
Mere possession of a firearm was insufficient to trigger the application of U.S. Sentencing Guideline section 2K2.1(c)(1), for possession in connection with the commission of another offense. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
J. Sung | Jul. 15, 2025 |
A171744
|
People v. Brinson
Because Penal Code section 1171 did not override Penal Code section 1172.1(c), trial court's decision not to act on recall and resentencing request was nonappealable. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
I. Petrou | Jul. 15, 2025 |
23-2989
|
U.S. v. Schena
Payments from owner of medical diagnostic laboratory to intermediary marketers rather than to the doctors actually making patient referrals violated law anti-renumeration law. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Bress | Jul. 14, 2025 |
24-4515
|
U.S. v. Westfall
Warrant based on information from confidential informant that was independently corroborated by police was supported by probable cause. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
R. Tallman | Jul. 11, 2025 |
F088505
|
Gray v. Superior Court (People)
Proximity to home where child engaged in independent study program associated with a public charter school did not trigger the placement restrictions for sexually violent predators eligible for conditional release. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
J. Detjen | Jul. 10, 2025 |
22-50281
|
U.S. v. Vlha
The Second Amendment does not cover conduct regulated by 18 U.S.C. section 922(a)(1)(A) because requiring commercial firearm manufacturers to obtain licenses does not meaningfully constrain would-be purchasers from obtaining firearms. |
Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Forrest | Jul. 10, 2025 |
23-3201
|
U.S. v. Bejar-Guizar
Border patrol agent's detention of man covered in mud near the border for questioning was supported by reasonable suspicion and did not violate the Fourth Amendment. |
Criminal Law and Procedure, Immigration |
|
K. Lee | Jul. 10, 2025 |
A170047
|
Modification: People v. Miller
Defendant charged with felony-murder following the passage of Senate Bill 1437 was not eligible for relief under Penal Code section 1172.6. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Chou | Jul. 9, 2025 |
23-3262
|
U.S. v. Liberato
Because government failed to meet its burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt that individual stopped at border was ever free from official restraint before apprehension, criminal conviction was reversed. |
Criminal Law and Procedure, Immigration |
|
M. Berzon | Jul. 9, 2025 |
H049356
|
People v. Jimenez
Trial court's dismissal of defendant's Racial Justice Act claim was appropriate where defendant's report provided only raw numbers with no meaningful effort to compare groups. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
C. Lie | Jul. 8, 2025 |
S282020
|
People v. The North River Insurance Co.
When a surety has moved to vacate a bail forfeiture, Penal Code section 1305 does not authorize the trial court to compel the prosecution to make an extradition decision. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
K. Evans | Jul. 8, 2025 |
D082890
|
People v. Barnum
Because evidence sufficiently supported direct aiding and abetting, defendant's first degree murder conviction did not warrant reversal when jury did not specify which theory it relied on to find guilt. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Rubin | Jul. 1, 2025 |
H051237
|
People v. Bray
Probation restriction that defendant refrain from dating, socializing, or forming a romantic relationship with" any person with physical custody of a minor unless approved was unconstitutionally overbroad. |
Criminal Law and Procedure, Constitutional Law |
|
L. Rodriguez | Jul. 1, 2025 |
A170047
|
People v. Miller
Defendant charged with felony-murder following the passage of Senate Bill 1437 was not eligible for relief under Penal Code section 1172.6. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
D. Chou | Jul. 1, 2025 |
B341644
|
Teran v. Superior Court (People)
Despite obtaining the information from Los Angeles Sheriff's Department database, former employee did not violate Penal Code section 502(c)(2) because the information was publicly available on the Los Angeles Superior Court website. |
Criminal Law and Procedure, Government |
|
C. Moor | Jun. 30, 2025 |
23-656
|
U.S. v. Keller
District court did not err in denying motion to suppress defendant-psychiatrist's journal because the seizure fell within the scope of the search warrant and its seizure was supported by probable cause. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
P. Curiam (9th Cir.) | Jun. 30, 2025 |
23-7809
|
Gutierrez v. Saenz
Death row prisoner had standing to bring section 1983 claim challenging Texas's postconviction DNA testing procedures under the Due Process Clause. |
Constitutional Law, Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
S. Sotomayor | Jun. 27, 2025 |
23-1002
|
Hewitt v. U.S.
The First Step Act confers the benefit of the Act's more lenient penalties to defendants facing post-Act resentencing following vacatur of their pre-Act sentence. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
K. Jackson | Jun. 27, 2025 |
S283169
|
People v. Rhodius
Except for sentencing enhancements for sexually violent offenses, any prior-prison-term enhancement imposed prior to 2020 is legally invalid, regardless of whether it was actually executed or stayed. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
L. Kruger | Jun. 27, 2025 |
S283326
|
People v. Wiley
Overruling *People v. Towne*, California Supreme Court determined that trial court, in imposing the upper term based on aggravating facts not decided by a jury, engaged in impermissible fact finding. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
C. Corrigan | Jun. 27, 2025 |
C096306
|
People v. Trent
Vacatur of defendant's murder conviction under Penal Code section 1172.6 rendered his gang offense "nonfinal" for purposes of the retroactive application of Assembly Bill No. 333. |
Criminal Law and Procedure |
|
P. Krause | Jun. 26, 2025 |