812 results for 'court:"California Courts Of Appeal"'.
J. Do holds that the trial court must revisit one element of the $22 million penalty award against an online university that made false and misleading statements to prospective students. The award included penalty count violations that are time-barred by the statute of limitations, so the award is reduced by $933,000. Affirmed as modified.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Do, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: D080671, Categories: Unfair Competition, Damages, False Advertising
[Modified.] J. Stratton adds one sentence calling for appellant to pay costs on appeal with no change in judgment. Substantial evidence supported a university's decision to use a combined investigator-adjudicator procedure in proceedings that resulted in a student's expulsion for intimate partner violence. Neither the original proceedings nor the appellate process violated the student's due process rights. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Stratton, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: B290675, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process
J. Gooding holds that the trial court was within its discretion to award a company only part of its requested attorney fees. The company prevailed on a trade secrets claim and was granted injunctive relief against a former employee, but lost on other counts. The trial court must recalculate its fee award by determining the actual fees the company incurred to obtain injunctive relief. The company is also entitled to expert fees it paid to stop or mitigate damage from the misappropriation of trade secrets. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Gooding, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: G062056, Categories: Trade Secrets, Damages, Attorney Fees
J. Huffman holds that the trial court abused its discretion by granting a judgment debtor's motion to tax costs after finding that a judgment creditor had not yet prevailed on its fraudulent transfer claim. Statute does not have a prevailing party requirement where a judgment creditor incurs reasonable and necessary interim costs to enforce a judgment. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Huffman, Filed On: March 8, 2024, Case #: D081492, Categories: Enforcement Of Judgments, Attorney Fees, Contract
[Modified.] J. Moor alters one sentence and denies a rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court should have suppressed the gun police found in a parole search of defendant's car. Before police knew he was on parole, they had unlawfully detained him by positioning their bodies where he could not drive away or open the car doors to walk away. Also, they shined flashlights into the car in a demonstration of authority and required him to stop a phone conversation he was having while legally parked. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Moor, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: B320488, Categories: Firearms, Parole, Search
Want access to unlimited case records and advanced research tools? Create your free CasePortal account now. No credit card required to register.
Try CasePortal for Free
J. Grimes finds the trial court properly denied defendant's motion to suppress a firearm, ammunition and methamphetamine that police found in his car during a Utah traffic stop, as well as statements he made to an undercover officer in jail. The traffic stop was not unduly prolonged and he consented to the search. Voluntary statements to the officer posing as a fellow inmate came after he invoked his Miranda rights but were not made in a coercive atmosphere dominated by police. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Grimes, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: B317938, Categories: Miranda, Murder, Search
[Consolidated.] J. Franson holds that an agricultural conservation easement qualifies as partial compensatory mitigation of an oil and gas project's conversion of agricultural land. Agricultural conservation easements satisfy Environmental Quality Act regulations that require the provision of substitute resources for compensatory mitigation, even if the result is a net loss of agricultural land. On remand, the trial court must order Kern County to prepare a revised environmental impact report that allows agricultural conservation easements to serve as partial mitigation of agricultural land for oil and gas activities. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Franson, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: F084763, Categories: Agriculture, Energy, Environment
J. O'Leary finds that sufficient toxicological and testimonial evidence that defendant knew a victim was too impaired to consent supports his conviction for rape by an intoxicating substance. There was also sufficient evidence that he intended to gain her trust, gave her intoxicants, led her from a bar and then raped her to support a kidnapping to commit rape count, too. Also, the existing standard jury instructions should be modified to explain the level of incapacitation or unconsciousness required before a jury can apply a relaxed or constructive force standard. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: O'Leary, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: G060049, Categories: Sex Offender, Jury Instructions
[Modified.] J. Menetrez removes the name of a probation officer with no change in judgment. The juvenile court properly ordered that defendant, a juvenile, be transferred to criminal court to face a murder charge. Recent statutory changes raising the standard of proof for a transfer to clear and convincing did not give greater weight to any one of several factors, such as welfare or foster care history, human trafficking or sexual battery. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Menetrez, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: E082250, Categories: Juvenile Law, Murder
J. McConnell finds that a father forfeited his claim that the trial court erred in ordering that his children have the authority to refuse visitation with him. Neither he nor counsel objected to the visitation orders or suggested modifications during the detention hearing or any subsequent hearings. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: McConnell, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: D082723, Categories: Family Law
J. Stratton finds that substantial evidence supported a university's decision to use a combined investigator-adjudicator procedure in proceedings that resulted in a student's expulsion for intimate partner violence. Neither the original proceedings nor the appellate process violated the student's due process rights. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Stratton, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: B290675, Categories: Civil Rights, Education, Due Process
J. Moor orders the partial publication and modification of a previously issued opinion. An untimely challenge to a city's adoption of zoning ordinances regulating development along a light rail line was not made timely by the relation back doctrine. And the city relied on substantial evidence to find that the adoption was inconsistent with the city's general plan. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Moor, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: B318346, Categories: Environment, Zoning
J. Kelety finds that the trial court properly relied on the adverse judgment rule to toss a malicious prosecution claim. The bar patron had a full and fair opportunity to litigate his credibility claim against his accuser, the director of security, in an underlying criminal assault case. The patron also failed to provide legal support for his unfair competition allegation that he was kicked out of a bar because of his race. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Kelety, Filed On: March 7, 2024, Case #: D081549, Categories: Malicious Prosecution, Unfair Competition
J. Viramontes finds that the trial court properly rejected an event promoter's claim that the force majeure provision in a booking contract required musical artists to refund deposits they received before the Covid-19 pandemic and related government restrictions forced the event's cancellation. The pandemic and the cancellation met two requirements for a refund under the force majeure provision, but the provision provides an exception where the artists keep the deposits if they were "ready, willing, and able to perform" despite a force majeure event. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Viramontes, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: B323977, Categories: Covid-19, Contract
J. Brown finds that the trial court properly held that a city's nuisance determinations were procedurally fair since they rested on zoning violations. But the city's appeals process for both zoning and building code violations that involves a single hearing officer is preempted by state law. The city must establish an appeals board or agency or allow its governing body to hear appeals as required by state law. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: March 6, 2024, Case #: A167719, Categories: Property, Preemption, Zoning
[Consolidated.] J. Danner finds that the trial court properly convicted defendant of receiving a stolen motor vehicle and tampering with a vehicle identification number. Statute criminalizes tampering with the VIN of one or more motor vehicle parts. Tampering with a VIN is an offense if a defendant intended to prevent the identification of a vehicle or part, regardless of the defendant's role as a buyer, seller, transferor or transferee. Also, the record should show a true finding of one, not two, prior strike allegations. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Danner, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: H050320, Categories: Sentencing, Vehicle
J. Brown holds that the state met its burden at the preliminary hearing stage to allege that defendant murdered four victims for the benefit of a criminal street gang. "Page Street" is a gang because it is organized, though informally, has a defined turf, symbols, hand signs and common enemies. Also, its members have specific roles in committing shared crimes and it splits the proceeds of its crimes. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Brown, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: A168018, Categories: Murder, Gangs
J. Markman finds that the trial court erred in intervening in a disputed election for the president of a private association. Substantial evidence did not support findings that the association's bylaws were clear and unambiguous or that a new election was required. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Markman, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: A165514, Categories: Elections, Remedies
J. Duarte finds the juvenile court should have granted a juvenile's motion to have his record sealed. He was entitled to have a juvenile wardship petition dismissed and his record sealed after satisfactorily completing probation for second-degree robbery. A new felony offense or a misdemeanor involving moral turpitude occurring during probation would bar having his record sealed, but not a new finding of wardship for a misdemeanor battery. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Duarte, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: C099115, Categories: Juvenile Law, Probation, Robbery
J. Bendix finds the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order a child's removal from her parents. Evidence that parents had allowed her to cross into the U.S. unaccompanied did not support a finding that she faced any future risk. She was no longer in the custody of an uncle who had abused her in the U.S., her father was now in the U.S., and a dispute between her father and her mother, who was still in Honduras, about who should care for her was not a basis for jurisdiction. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bendix, Filed On: March 5, 2024, Case #: B329192, Categories: Family Law, Jurisdiction
J. Fujisaki finds that the Department of Toxic Substances Control was within its discretion to classify violations at an oil and hazardous waste treatment facility as Class I violations. Class I violations are not limited to significant threats to human health or safety or the environment, but may also include operational deviations that might result in failures to accomplish the objectives enumerated in the Hazardous Waste Control Law, such as the ability to perform emergency cleanup operations or to ensure adequate financial resources to shut down a facility. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Fujisaki, Filed On: March 4, 2024, Case #: A166575, Categories: Administrative Law, Environment
J. Hiramoto finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's ineffective assistance claim that counsel should have requested a mental health diversion prior to his no contest plea to carrying a concealed dirk or dagger. He failed to provide a probable cause statement as required for claims about pretrial mental health diversions. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hiramoto, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: A165379, Categories: Ineffective Assistance, Weapons, Plea
J. Mori finds that the trial court properly declared that a homeowner's property was not subject to a tree-trimming covenant. The homeowners' association's tree-trimming declaration does not describe the property, and neither the homeowner's deeds nor title reports reference the declaration, so he never impliedly agreed to be bound by the covenant. However, the trial court's injunctive order was overbroad and constitutes a prior restraint on speech. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Mori, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: B308382, Categories: Property
J. Menetrez finds that the juvenile court properly ordered that defendant, a juvenile, be transferred to criminal court to face a murder charge. Recent statutory changes raising the standard of proof for a transfer to clear and convincing did not give greater weight to any one of several factors, such as welfare or foster care history, human trafficking or sexual battery. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Menetrez, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: E082250, Categories: Juvenile Law, Murder
J. Menetrez finds that the trial court improperly denied defendant's motion to quash the state's subpoena seeking his case file in preparation for a resentencing hearing. The trial court must apply the factors in the appeal court's "Facebook Inc. v. Superior Court" opinion, which apply to subpoenas issued by both the defense and prosecution. That standard is used to determine if good cause exists to seek a defendant's entire case file, including medical and mental health records. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Menetrez, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: E081770, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Sentencing, Sex Offender
[Modified.] J. Jackson grants a university's motion for confidential treatment of student identities by modifying multiple paragraphs of a previously published opinion with no change in judgment. A university had jurisdiction over a tenured professor and was within its discretion to both fire him and deny him emeritus status based on undisputed findings that he sexually abused two women who were not university students. The university had the authority to enforce its faculty code of conduct, the professor's conduct was subject to discipline under the code, and he violated ethical principles and impaired the university's central functions. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Jackson, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: A164480, Categories: Employment, Jurisdiction
J. Snauffer finds that the trial court improperly invalidated a regulatory notice issued by the Geologic Energy Management Division which requires oil operators to cease operations if a "surface expression" appears outside of a wellbore as a result of injection operations. The regulations are consistent with the Public Resources Code and with the Division's mandate to promote health and safety. They are supported by substantial evidence that human life is endangered by the appearance of oil, water, steam, gas, formation solids or debris within 150 feet of a well. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Snauffer, Filed On: March 1, 2024, Case #: F085832, Categories: Administrative Law, Energy, Environment
[Consolidated.] J. Petrou holds that that the trial court properly granted summary judgment to the University of San Francisco on the students' claims that it should refund tuition for suspending in-person instruction during the Covid-19 pandemic. The students failed to show the university had promised through either an express or implied contract to provide in-person instruction in all circumstances, including a health and safety emergency. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Petrou, Filed On: February 29, 2024, Case #: A165976, Categories: Education, Covid-19, Contract
J. Yegan finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's petition for resentencing on a first degree murder conviction with a special circumstance of kidnapping. He directly aided and abetted the murder with an intentional plan to kill. "Leniency for a person who orders his cohorts to murder a 15-year-old child with a machine gun? The child is dead and our answer is, no." Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Yegan, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: B323018, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Kidnapping
J. Motoike holds that the trial court erroneously found the vehicle code precluded DUI defendants from mental health treatment diversions. Further proceedings are needed to decide if defendant, facing four misdemeanor DUI charges, should be diverted to mental health treatment.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Motoike, Filed On: February 28, 2024, Case #: G062648, Categories: Competence, Dui