24 results for 'judge:"Hoffstadt"'.
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly rejected a facial challenge to the constitutionality of legislation granting cities and counties some discretion to preempt local law in order to increase housing density on a parcel-by-parcel basis. The legislature can supersede local zoning and land use law to address matters of statewide concern, such as a housing shortage. The legislation's preemption of local housing density caps is limited and does not run afoul of voter initiative rights. The legislation permissibly delegates the legislature's preemptive power to local legislative bodies. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: March 28, 2024, Case #: B321875, Categories: Preemption, Zoning, Housing
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly granted a city’s demurrer without leave to amend on a neighboring city’s claim that heavy truck traffic being diverted onto its streets was a public nuisance. The boarder streets are outside the parties’ power to regulate because the ordinance refers to “any street, road, or public right-of-way within the city.”
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: B327413, Categories: Government, Municipal Law
J. Hoffstadt finds the trial court improperly denied a stepfather’s motion for removal from the sex offender registry after he sexually battered his seven-year-old stepdaughter. He was charged with lewd and lascivious acts with a minor and was sentenced to six months in jail with five years of probation. The stepfather has not reoffended and has registered as a tier two sex offender in an excess of 20 years. Therefore, this case is remanded for him to be removed from the registry. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: February 22, 2024, Case #: B324852, Categories: Sex Offender, Child Victims
J. Hoffstadt finds that the juvenile court properly held that statute does not limit its authority to issue a restraining order protecting a child to petitions filed by a parent's probation officer. The juvenile court may issue a restraining order to protect a child based on any dependency petition. But the juvenile court lacked authority to issue a restraining order protecting the child's maternal grandmother. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: February 8, 2024, Case #: B324755, Categories: Family Law, Restraining Order
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly granted a city's demurrer on a neighboring city's claim that heavy truck traffic being diverted onto its streets was a nuisance. The city is immune because the municipal law it enacted to limit heavy truck traffic on its streets is expressly authorized by statute, and because any related consequences of a duly enacted municipal law are also subject to immunity. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: February 1, 2024, Case #: B327413, Categories: Municipal Law, Transportation, Immunity
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J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court should have granted defendant's petition for removal from the sex offender registry, which he sought after 37 years of non-offending. The trial court erred in giving controlling weight to the egregiousness of his crime but not to his long history of law-abiding behavior and the state's failure to present evidence that he is likely to reoffend. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: B324852, Categories: Sex Offender
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly denied defendant’s motion to dismiss a gang enhancement after changes were made to gang enhancement law but prior to trial. Where a defendant has been indicted but not yet convicted, the trial court has the inherent authority to reconvene a grand jury and resubmit a crime or enhancement so the state can present evidence to support new statutory elements.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: B332361, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Gangs
J. Hoffstadt upholds the trial court's grant of summary judgment to a private nonprofit entity known as a Regional Center working on behalf of the Department of Developmental Services. An employee of a residential facility sued the Regional Center after he was assaulted by a developmentally disabled person who had been placed at the facility by the Regional Center. The facility had requested that the Regional Center relocate the developmentally disabled person before the assault, but the Regional Center lacked the ability to control the person and therefore had no duty to control him. And if it did have the ability to control him, its duty would be to him, not the residential facility. Furthermore, if it could control him and therefore had a duty to protect others, imposing liability on Regional Centers would jeopardize their ability to fulfill their role administering the Lanterman Act. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: January 25, 2024, Case #: B323186, Categories: Negligence
J. Hoffstadt finds that an administrative board properly denied inmate compensation to defendant after his murder conviction was overturned by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. The grant of habeas relief did not automatically establish his factual innocence for the purpose of awarding him compensation for the time he spent in prison. Similarly, the Ninth Circuit's commentary on the evidence and its summary of the trial court record do not constitute binding factual findings in inmate compensation proceedings. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: December 29, 2023, Case #: B323360, Categories: Murder
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt alters a footnote and denies a rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court properly dismissed this suit brought by the Macanese gaming club operator seeking to enforce a nearly $10 million gambling debt against a California resident. Though California has legalized certain types of gambling, the prohibition on using the courts to enforce gambling debts, which extends back to English common law, is meant to discourage the creation of such debts and their resultant consequences. The law is rational and the courts do not uphold it simply for the sake of tradition. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: November 17, 2023, Case #: B317918, Categories: Debt Collection, Choice Of Law
J. Hoffstadt finds the trial court properly dismissed this suit brought by the Macanese gaming club operator seeking to enforce a nearly $10 million gambling debt against a California resident. Though California has legalized certain types of gambling, the prohibition on using the courts to enforce gambling debts, which extends back to English common law, is meant to discourage the creation of such debts and their resultant consequences. The law is rational and the courts do not uphold it simply for the sake of tradition. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: October 26, 2023, Case #: B317918, Categories: Debt Collection, Choice Of Law
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt modifies one footnote and denies a petition for rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court properly dismissed a malpractice claim against a lawyer over his representation of a partnership. The original complaint was timely filed by a partner, but the partner lacked standing since the lawyer had represented the partnership. An amended complaint included the partnership but was filed after the statute of limitations had passed. The time-barred amended complaint did not relate back to the timely complaint because the causes of action applied only to the partnership. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: B324560, Categories: Civil Procedure, Legal Malpractice
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt makes multiple changes to an opinion's wording and denies a petition for rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court properly concluded that an insured's loss of use of entertainment venues due to Covid-19 closures was insufficient for coverage under a commercial property insurance policy. Coverage is only available for the direct physical loss or damage to property. Policy clauses for government orders and impediments to access that include the word "event" do not expand coverage in the absence of physical loss or damage. Also, the presence of Covid-19 on a property's surfaces is not physical loss or damage. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: October 19, 2023, Case #: B323865, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly dismissed a malpractice claim against a lawyer over his representation of a partnership. The original complaint was timely filed by a partner, but the partner lacked standing since the lawyer had represented the partnership. An amended complaint included the partnership but was filed after the statute of limitations had passed. The time-barred amended complaint did not relate back to the timely complaint because the causes of action applied only to the partnership. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: September 28, 2023, Case #: B324560, Categories: Civil Procedure, Legal Malpractice
J. Hoffstadt holds that the trial court properly concluded that an insured's loss of use of entertainment venues due to Covid-19 closures was insufficient for coverage under a commercial property insurance policy. Coverage is only available for the direct physical loss or damage to property. Policy clauses for government orders and impediments to access that include the word "event" do not expand coverage in the absence of physical loss or damage. Also, the presence of Covid-19 on a property's surfaces is not physical loss or damage. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: B323865, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt modifies a previously published opinion for a second time with no change in judgment. The trial court improperly dismissed a lender's contract action against a borrower as time-barred. The loan contract gave the lender the option to demand the full loan amount when the lender missed a monthly payment. The lender missed a payment in 2011 but the lender did not exercise the acceleration clause until 2019. Since the contract gave the lender the discretion whether or not to treat a missed monthly payment as a breach of the full amount, the lender's complaint, which was filed in 2020, was not precluded by the four-year statute of limitations. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: September 21, 2023, Case #: B316372, Categories: Civil Procedure, Banking / Lending, Contract
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt modifies a previously published opinion and denies a rehearing with no change in judgment. The trial court improperly dismissed a lender's contract action against a borrower as time-barred. The loan contract gave the lender the option to demand the full loan amount when the lender missed a monthly payment. The lender missed a payment in 2011 but the lender did not exercise the acceleration clause until 2019. Since the contract gave the lender the discretion whether or not to treat a missed monthly payment as a breach of the full amount, the lender's complaint, which was filed in 2020, was not precluded by the four-year statute of limitations. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: September 14, 2023, Case #: B316372, Categories: Civil Procedure, Banking / Lending, Contract
[Modified.] J. Hoffstadt corrects two typos with no change in judgment. The trial court properly rejected an insured's misrepresentation and unfair competition claims against an insurer that he filed after he entered an arbitrated settlement agreement with the insurer and its agent. The insurer was not obligated to independently analyze whether the variable life insurance products he bought were suitable since the agent performed a suitability analysis that satisfied statutory requirements. And even if the agent's analysis was flawed, the settlement agreement released the insurer from any liability resulting from the agent's negligence or breaches. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: B320820, Categories: Insurance, Settlements, Unfair Competition
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court improperly dismissed a lender's contract action against a borrower as time-barred. The loan contract gave the lender the option to demand the full loan amount when the lender missed a monthly payment. The lender missed a payment in 2011 but the lender did not exercise the acceleration clause until 2019. Since the contract gave the lender the discretion whether or not to treat a missed monthly payment as a breach of the full amount, the lender's complaint, which was filed in 2020, was not precluded by the four-year statute of limitations. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: August 24, 2023, Case #: B316372, Categories: Civil Procedure, Banking / Lending, Contract
J. Hoffstadt finds that the trial court properly rejected an insured's misrepresentation and unfair competition claims against an insurer that he filed after he entered an arbitrated settlement agreement with the insurer and its agent. The insurer was not obligated to independently analyze whether the variable life insurance products he bought were suitable since the agent performed a suitability analysis that satisfied statutory requirements. And even if the agent's analysis was flawed, the settlement agreement released the insurer from any liability resulting from the agent's negligence or breaches. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: August 3, 2023, Case #: B320820, Categories: Insurance, Settlements, Unfair Competition
J. Hoffstadt finds that the juvenile court properly removed the half-sibling from the mother's custody, terminating reunification services. The juvenile court properly examined the mother’s minimal effort to address her drug addiction during the entire 20 years since a half sibling was removed. All evidence weighs in favor of terminating reunification. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt , Filed On: July 27, 2023, Case #: B321967, Categories: Family Law
J. Hoffstadt finds that the probate court erred in refusing to probate a document as constituting a testator's will. The probate court was not limited to the four corners of the proffered document in its analysis of whether the drafter exhibited testamentary intent, as extrinsic evidence is key to determining a drafter's intent. There was clear and convincing evidence that the drafter intended an unwitnessed letter she wrote almost 20 years before her death to be testamentary. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: B321347, Categories: Wills / Probate
J. Hoffstadt finds the trial court properly dismissed this class action brought against the previously dissolved district alleging its failure to provide potable drinking water. The district had been dissolved for incompetence and the Reorganization Act grants discretion to the Local Agency Formation Commission to permit it to appoint a successor agency responsible for winding up the district’s affairs. The county is immune and the district is legally nonexistent. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Hoffstadt, Filed On: May 25, 2023, Case #: B317653, Categories: Administrative Law, Water, Agency