Supreme Court of California Decisions 2019
Date: December 26, 2019
Docket Number: S240156
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal affirming the judgment of the trial court dismissing this complaint filed by Plaintiffs, two therapists and one counselor, alleging that the basic norm of…
Date: December 26, 2019
Docket Number: S245996
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court remanded this matter questioning whether Cal. Govt. Code 1092 gave Plaintiff, a citizens' taxpayer organization, statutory standing to invalidate certain contracts allegedly made in violation of Cal.…
Date: December 19, 2019
Docket Number: S247266
Justia Opinion Summary: In deciding whether the Legislature's enactment of two statutes requiring a portion of state funding provided annually to local education agencies to be used prospectively as "offsetting revenues" under Cal. Gov't Code…
Date: December 16, 2019
Docket Number: S244166
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed Defendant's convictions involving one of the witnesses that testified during Defendant's trial, holding that the trial court violated Defendant's right of confrontation under the Sixth…
Date: December 5, 2019
Docket Number: S242244
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court granted review in this criminal case to determine the continued viability of Cal. Penal Code 632(d) in light of the limits placed on the exclusion of evidence by the "Right to Truth in Evidence"…
Date: December 2, 2019
Docket Number: S029843
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed, as modified in this opinion, the judgments of the trial court convicting James David Beck and Gerald Dean Cruz of four counts of first degree murder and entering judgments of death based on…
Date: November 25, 2019
Docket Number: S029551
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of first degree murder and sentencing him to death, holding that there were four possible errors during the penalty phase of trial, but none…
Date: November 25, 2019
Docket Number: S082101
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first-degree murder and sentence of death, holding that Defendant was not entitled to relief on his allegations of error. Defendant was convicted of first degree…
Date: November 25, 2019
Docket Number: S238627
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the opinion of the court of appeal reversing the judgment of the trial court ruling that the search of Defendant's car was invalid on the basis that the search was authorized under In re Arturo…
Date: November 21, 2019
Docket Number: S099439
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in its entirety the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of two counts of first-degree murder and related crimes and sentencing Defendant to death for each of the murder…
Date: November 21, 2019
Docket Number: S248130
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated the judgment of the court of appeal affirming in part and reversing in part the trial court's denial of Defendant's Proposition 47 petition, holding that the court of appeals did not properly…
Date: November 21, 2019
Docket Number: S257302
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court exercised its original jurisdiction to entertain an emergency petition for a writ of mandate that would forbid the Secretary of State from enforcing portions of the recently enabled Presidential Tax…
Date: November 14, 2019
Docket Number: S246541
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question requested by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit by holding that the provision in Cal. Civ. Code 1916-2 prohibiting lenders from assessing compound interest…
Date: September 12, 2019
Docket Number: S246711
Justia Opinion Summary: In this Private Attorneys General Act (PAGA), Cal. Lab. Code 2698 et seq., action seeking civil penalties under Cal. Labor Code 558 the Supreme Court held that the civil penalties a plaintiff may seek under section 558…
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: S239510
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court considered two questions from the federal court of appeals regarding California's common-law notice-prejudice rule and held (1) the notice-prejudice rule is a fundamental public policy of the state in…
Date: August 29, 2019
Docket Number: S244630
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that a definitive resolution of the question of whether an arbitral scheme resembling civil litigation can constitute a sufficiently accessible and affordable process was unnecessary in this case…
Date: August 26, 2019
Docket Number: S243855
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that when a law enforcement agency creates a so-called internal Brady list, and a peace officer on that list is a potential witness in a pending criminal prosecution, the agency may disclose to the…
Date: August 26, 2019
Docket Number: S247044
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeal affirming Defendant's conviction of attempted kidnapping where Defendant was charged with completed kidnapping, holding that reversal was not warranted by…
Date: August 26, 2019
Docket Number: S248105
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal finding that the trial court's error in permitting the jury to consider a box cutter an inherently deadly weapon was prejudicial, holding that the error was…
Date: August 22, 2019
Docket Number: S248046
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the court of appeal affirming the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's motion to dismiss his recommitment as a mentally disordered offender (MDO) on the basis that…
Date: August 19, 2019
Docket Number: S238563
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeal affirming the finding of the City of San Diego that adoption of an ordinance authorizing the establishment of medical marijuana dispensaries and regulating…
Date: August 15, 2019
Docket Number: S230923
Justia Opinion Summary: In this appeal concerning a condition of probation requiring Ricardo P. to submit to warrantless searches of his electronics devices the Supreme Court held that the electronics search condition was not reasonably related…
Date: August 15, 2019
Docket Number: S241812
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal affirming in part and reversing in part the judgment of the trial court granting Defendant's motion for judgment on the pleadings on certain stock and wage…
Date: August 15, 2019
Docket Number: S243247
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal finding the City of Oroville liable in inverse condemnation for property damage suffered by a dental practice when raw sewage began spewing from the toilets,…
Date: August 12, 2019
Docket Number: S130495
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court discharged an order to show cause filed by Petitioner in connection with his petition seeking a writ of habeas corpus, holding that Petitioner failed to meet the applicable standard for relief under any…
Date: August 12, 2019
Docket Number: S247235
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court disapproved the lead opinion in People v. Ray, 21 Cal.4th 464 (1999), in which the Court articulated a "community caretaking" exception to the warrant requirement for government entry into a private…
Date: August 12, 2019
Docket Number: S249248
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court answered a question regarding California's Unruh Civil Rights Act, Cal. Civ. Code 51 et seq., by holding that a plaintiff has standing to bring a claim under the Act when the plaintiff visits a…
Date: August 8, 2019
Docket Number: S146939
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of first degree murder and sentence of death, holding that there was no error in the proceedings below that entitled Defendant to reversal of his…
Date: July 29, 2019
Docket Number: S246490
Justia Opinion Summary: In this putative class action brought on behalf of retail purchasers of an inflatable outdoor pool the Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal upholding the ruling of the trial court denying the…
Date: July 25, 2019
Docket Number: S148462
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for two counts of first degree murder and other crimes but reversed Defendant's sentence of death imposed after a penalty retrial, holding that the trial court erred by…
Date: July 22, 2019
Docket Number: S239686
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed in part the judgment of the court of appeal concluding that the anti-SLAPP statute, Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 425.16, cannot be used to judicially screen claims alleging…
Date: July 22, 2019
Docket Number: S240245
Justia Opinion Summary: In this tort action arising out of a fatal tour bus accident in Arizona, the Supreme Court held that the trial court did not err by declining to reconsider its prior choice of law ruling after an Indiana defendant was…
Date: July 18, 2019
Docket Number: S248492
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court issued a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order denying Petitioner's request to release ballistics evidence for expert testimony in preparation for filing a habeas corpus…
Date: July 15, 2019
Docket Number: S084292
Justia Opinion Summary: In this original habeas corpus action the Supreme Court granted Petitioner habeas corpus relief insofar as the petition sought relief from the judgment of death after accepting the finding of the referee that a…
Date: July 15, 2019
Docket Number: S242250
Justia Opinion Summary: In this negligence case, the Supreme Court held that the immunity provision of the Government Claims Act (GCA) that bars any statutory liability that might otherwise exist for injuries resulting from the condition of…
Date: July 11, 2019
Docket Number: S251392
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeal reversing the ruling of the trial court denying Defendants' motion for dismiss this breach of contract suit under the anti-SLAPP statutes, holding that…
Date: July 8, 2019
Docket Number: S245395
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the determination of the California Department of Social Services (the Department) that a household member's income that is used to pay child support for a child living in another household…
Date: July 1, 2019
Docket Number: S129501
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions of two counts of first degree murder and his sentence of death, holding that none of Defendant's challenges to his convictions and death sentence warranted…
Date: July 1, 2019
Docket Number: S244751
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning whether a certified class of state correctional employees is entitled to additional compensation for time spent on pre- and postwork activities, the Supreme Court held that the represented…
Date: June 27, 2019
Docket Number: S161399
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of first degree murder, with the special circumstance that the murder was committed during a rape, and Defendant's sentence of death holding that there was no prejudicial…
Date: June 24, 2019
Docket Number: S147335
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's convictions for three counts of first degree murder and three counts of first degree attempted murder arising from two shootings committed by Defendant on the same day and…
Date: June 24, 2019
Docket Number: S221958
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the trial court upholding Defendants' convictions of two counts of attempted murder, holding that the evidence was insufficient to support an instruction on the kill zone theory…
Date: June 20, 2019
Docket Number: S242835
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the City and County of San Francisco (San Francisco) can lawfully apply a tax collection requirement, which requires parking lot operators to collect a tax from drivers who park their cars in…
Date: June 13, 2019
Docket Number: S106274
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court sentencing Defendant Socorro Susan Caro to death for killing three of her four children, holding that any error in the admission of statements from a detective's…
Date: June 3, 2019
Docket Number: S239122
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the court of appeal affirming the decision of a resentencing court refusing to dismiss Defendant's conviction for street terrorism after Proposition 47 came into effect, holding…
Date: June 3, 2019
Docket Number: S240153
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal granting Anthony Cook's petition for writ of habeas corpus and remanded the matter to the court of appeal with directions to deny the petition, holding that…
Date: May 30, 2019
Docket Number: S243029
Justia Opinion Summary: In this dispute over attorney fees and costs following arbitration the Supreme Court held (1) a request for costs under Cal. Code Civ. P. 998 is timely if filed with the arbitrator within fifteen days of a final award…
Date: May 30, 2019
Docket Number: S243360
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that when an agency considers increasing a property-related fee, the fee payor challenging the method of fee allocation need not exhaust administrative remedies by participating in a Proposition…
Date: May 30, 2019
Docket Number: S246669
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning a massive, four-month-long leak from a natural gas storage facility located outside Los Angeles the Supreme Court held that local businesses, none of which alleged they suffered personal injury or…
Date: May 23, 2019
Docket Number: S127621
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant's conviction of two counts of first degree murder and personal use of a deadly weapon and Defendant's sentence of death on both counts, holding that no prejudicial error occurred in…
Date: May 23, 2019
Docket Number: S153881
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed as modified the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant and sentencing him to death for the murder of a peace officer, holding that modification of the judgment was required to reduce…
Date: May 23, 2019
Docket Number: S247074
Justia Opinion Summary: In this criminal case, the Supreme Court held that, when a defendant posts bail, the trial court has authority to impose reasonable conditions related to public safety but that the question had become moot as to the…
Date: May 16, 2019
Docket Number: S046848
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court vacated as unauthorized the death sentence imposed upon Defendant in connection with his conviction for conspiracy to commit murder and vacated the jury's lying in wait special-circumstance true…
Date: May 6, 2019
Docket Number: S243294
Justia Opinion Summary: In this real property dispute, the Supreme Court held that Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 580d does not preclude a creditor holding two deeds of trust on the same property from recovering a deficiency judgment on the junior lien…
Date: May 6, 2019
Docket Number: S244157
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case involving application of the "catchall" provision of the anti-SLAPP statute, Cal. Code Civ. Proc. 425.16, the Supreme Court held (1) the context of a defendant's statement is relevant, though not…
Date: May 2, 2019
Docket Number: S080056
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of murder in the course of a robbery and related crimes and sentencing Defendant to death, holding that any assumed errors were…
Date: April 29, 2019
Docket Number: S087569
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court denying Defendant's automatic motion to modify the jury's verdict convicting Defendant of two counts of first degree murder and sentencing him to death, holding…
Date: April 25, 2019
Docket Number: S245607
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals concluding that this lawsuit brought by security guards at Oracle Park (the former AT&T Park in San Francisco) against San Francisco Baseball Associates LLC…
Date: April 11, 2019
Docket Number: S243975
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the proper interpretation of Proposition 47, the ballot initiative that reduced certain felony offenses to misdemeanors, the Supreme Court held that defendants who had not yet been sentenced as of…
Date: April 4, 2019
Docket Number: S214116
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court held that the rule set forth in Stone v. Superior Court, 31 Cal.3d 503, that a court must accept a partial verdict of acquittal as to a charged greater offense when a jury has expressly indicated that…
Date: April 4, 2019
Docket Number: S238001
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgments of the trial court and court of appeal rejecting Plaintiffs' facial challenge to the ordinance adopted by the City and County of San Francisco (the City) requiring wireless…
Date: March 28, 2019
Docket Number: S072161
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court modified the judgment of the trial court convicting Defendant of two counts of first degree murder and related crimes, sentencing Defendant to death, and imposing a four-year determinate term based on…
Date: March 28, 2019
Docket Number: S237415
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the Court of Appeal upholding the juvenile court's finding that H.W. possessed an "other instrument or tool with intent feloniously to break or enter" within the meaning of Cal.…
Date: March 28, 2019
Docket Number: S246214
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeals ruling that Defendant did not have a right to appointed counsel to respond to the prosecution's appeal of the order of the trial court granting Defendant's…
Date: March 4, 2019
Docket Number: S239958
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the trial court and court of appeal, which determined that the elimination of the opportunity to purchase additional retirement service (ARS) credit set forth in the California…
Date: March 4, 2019
Docket Number: S241471
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court and court of appeal sustaining Defendants’ demurrer in this case, holding that customers who have paid sales tax reimbursement on purchases they believe to be…
Date: February 28, 2019
Docket Number: S133660
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the trial court convicting codefendants Oswaldo Amezcua and Joseph Conrad Flores of four counts of first degree murder and sentencing each defendant to death for the murder…
Date: February 28, 2019
Docket Number: S233526
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal affirming the denial of Defendant’s special motion to strike, holding that the evidence produced by Plaintiff was properly considered by the trial court in…
Date: February 25, 2019
Docket Number: S240397
Justia Opinion Summary: In this challenge brought by J.G., a juvenile, to a restitution order the Supreme Court remanded the matter for a new hearing regarding J.G.’s ability to pay restitution, holding that the juvenile court did not violate…
Date: February 15, 2019
Docket Number: S242799
Justia Opinion Summary: In this question involving one of the economical litigation rules the Supreme Court accepted a request by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to decide a question of state law regarding Cal. Code…
Date: February 7, 2019
Docket Number: S238941
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court reversed the judgment of the court of appeal insofar as it held that the trial court erred in dismissing certain of Plaintiff’s causes of action, holding an employee who believes he or she has not been…
Date: February 4, 2019
Docket Number: S112691
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s conviction of first degree murder and sentence of death on the murder count, holding that no reversible error occurred in the proceedings below. Specifically, the Court held (1)…
Date: February 4, 2019
Docket Number: S126560
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed Defendant’s convictions of kidnapping, robbing, raping, torturing, and murder but reversed his death sentence, holding that multiple prospective jurors were improperly excused for…
Date: February 4, 2019
Docket Number: S235735
Justia Opinion Summary: The Supreme Court affirmed in part and reversed and remanded in part the judgment of the appellate court reversing the judgment of the trial court granted Defendants’ special motions to strike the second through sixth…
Date: January 24, 2019
Docket Number: S238954
Justia Opinion Summary: In this case concerning the line separating shoplifting from burglary after the approval of Proposition 47, the Supreme Court held that entering an interior room that is objectively identifiable as off-limits to the…
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