812 results for 'court:"California Courts Of Appeal"'.
J. Stewart finds that the trial court properly concluded that a pension fund was not contractually obligated to consider a participant employer's request to change the method used to calculate the amount that employers must contribute toward the pension's unfunded liabilities. The employer sought to have the percentage of payroll method replaced with a percentage of liability method. The employer failed to raise a triable issue for declaratory relief under the standard applied to petitions for writ of mandate challenging actuarial decisions by a pension. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Stewart, Filed On: March 27, 2024, Case #: A165587, Categories: Pensions, Contract
[Modified.] J. Earl denies a rehearing and modifies the last paragraph of a previously published opinion with no change in judgment. The trial court must amend its commitment order to include a statement of the maximum term associated with each offense defendant was accused of before he was acquitted upon a finding of insanity. Based on the underlying maximum possible sentences, the commitment order will reflect an indeterminate term with a maximum of life. The life term of commitment does not violate his due process or equal protection rights since an insanity acquitee may be hospitalized based on a preponderance of evidence showing continued insanity or danger to the community. Affirmed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Earl, Filed On: March 26, 2024, Case #: C095986, Categories: Sentencing, Battery, Commitment
J. Lui finds that the trial court properly denied defendants' petitions for resentencing on felony murder convictions. Defendants could be convicted of felony murder under current law despite changes to statute. The evidence shows one defendant had the specific intent to kill and both were major participants in a kidnapping that resulted in death and that they acted with reckless indifference to human life. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Lui, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B322561, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Kidnapping
J. Weingart finds that trial court properly denied an e-commerce retailer's motion to compel arbitration of a consumer's claim that a device he bought online did not improve his sexual performance or stamina as advertised. The link to the website's terms of use was too small and inconspicuous to put the consumer on notice about an arbitration agreement. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Weingart, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B323430, Categories: Arbitration, Consumer Law, False Advertising
[Consolidated.] J. Viramontes holds that the trial court must revisit its denial of an employee's attorney fee request after he was awarded $7,600 in wages. Statute entitles employees who prevail on minimum and overtime wage claims to reasonable attorney fees and costs, and the trial court must determine how much of the $323,000 the employee requested is reasonable. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Viramontes, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: B322697, Categories: Employment, Attorney Fees
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J. Huffman finds the trial court erred in granting an insurer judgment on the pleadings on an insured's claim for Covid-19 business interruption coverage. Unlike most commercial property policies, the subject policy includes a virus endorsement that provides coverage for loss or damage caused by a virus, including the cost of removal. Further proceedings are need to develop facts and evidence about whether exclusions and conditions on the virus endorsement make it impermissibly illusory. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Huffman, Filed On: March 25, 2024, Case #: D081132, Categories: Insurance, Covid-19
J. Delaney finds that the trial court properly denied defendant an evidentiary hearing for resentencing on a felony murder conviction. He admitted to having the intent to kill but argued that he did not assist the actual killer in the killing so he lacked the actus reus required for felony murder. The actus reus element was satisfied because, while possessing the intent to kill, he was engaged in the underlying felonies of rape and robbery in furtherance of a common design. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Delaney, Filed On: March 22, 2024, Case #: G061916, Categories: Murder, Sentencing
J. Robie finds that the trial court properly denied a funeral home's petition to exclude money paid for funeral merchandise from a statutory requirement to hold that money in trust. The payments for merchandise are subject to the trust requirements for preneed contracts under the Short Act because they were sold as part of a package deal. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Robie, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: C098017, Categories: Contract
J. Robie finds that the trial court properly denied a funeral home's petition to exclude money paid for funeral merchandise from a statutory requirement to hold that money in trust. The exception does not apply because the funeral home did not deliver the merchandise. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Robie, Filed On: March 21, 2024, Case #: C098037, Categories: Contract
J. Goldman holds that a challenge to the trial court's guardianship order is moot since the order expired before appellate briefing was complete. The statutory one-year period of conservatorships poses an inherent risk of mootness for appeals. Appellants requesting extensions should inform appellate courts of a challenged order's expiration date to allow for a timely good cause evaluation.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Goldman, Filed On: March 20, 2024, Case #: A166825, Categories: Civil Procedure, Guardianship
J. Tucher finds that the trial court properly issued a domestic violence restraining order on a husband after denying his request for continuance. He had more than the statutory five-day notice of the petition and his wife's supplemental declaration did not reset the clock to allow him to request a continuance. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Tucher, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: A168081, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Domestic Violence
[Consolidated.] J. Rothschild holds that a hospital properly relied on statutory due process requirements when conducting a peer review that resulted in the suspension of a doctor's hospital privileges. The trial court rightly granted the hospital nonsuit on the doctor's common law peer review claims and denied her motion for leave to amend after trial began. But the trial court improperly awarded attorney fees to the hospital's medical staff on the peer review claims, which were tenable. Reversed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Rothschild, Filed On: March 19, 2024, Case #: B316313, Categories: Employment, Attorney Fees
J. Baker finds that the juvenile court properly assumed dependency jurisdiction over several children based on the risks they faced by their mother's failure to protect them from their father's alcohol abuse and drunk driving. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Baker, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: B326320, Categories: Family Law
J. Baltodano finds that the juvenile court erred in terminating reunification services at a six-month review hearing. A mother made substantial progress on her treatment plan and a few isolated instances of alcohol use and missed drug tests were not clear and convincing evidence supporting termination. A new hearing is needed to review her progress and decide whether to continue reunification services. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Baltodano, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: B333788, Categories: Family Law
J. Smith finds that the Public Employment Relations Board properly upheld an administrative court's decision in favor of hospital employees seeking to enforce their collective bargaining rights. The hospital authority violated statute when it unilaterally declared that a memorandum of understanding bars group or class grievances. An employer subject to a collective bargaining agreement cannot adopt a new policy or apply an existing policy in a new way without providing the employees' union both notice and the opportunity to bargain. And the authority failed to show that the union had waived its right to bargain over new policies or new interpretations.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Smith, Filed On: March 18, 2024, Case #: F085586, Categories: Labor / Unions
[Modified.] J. Simons modifies the disposition with no change in judgment. The trial court improperly upheld a city's conclusion that a proposed ballot referendum challenging the approval of a development was invalid. The city claimed its approval was an administrative act not subject to referendum, but the resolution that approved the development included a policy decision to build and improve a public park, so it was a legislative act subject to referendum power. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Simons, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: A167346, Categories: Elections, Property
J. Franson finds that the trial court properly denied defendant's claim that he is entitled to sentencing relief based on his misunderstanding of potential immigration consequences of his conviction for assault with a firearm. The evidence supports his claim that he did not understand the potential immigration consequences when convicted, but he is ineligible for relief because no evidence shows he lacked an understanding years later when he was convicted for a DUI or when probation revocation proceedings were held. However, he may pursue a new motion based on arguments that his initial failure to understand potential immigration consequences was prejudicial. Vacated in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Franson, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: F084751, Categories: Criminal Procedure, Immigration, Assault
J. Bromberg finds that the trial court properly denied a sheriff's motion to dismiss removal proceedings against her, which ended with guilty verdicts for perjury and five other counts related to corruption in her office's processing of concealed weapons licenses. Her claim that the case was moot once she retired failed because the civil jury's finding of malfeasance in office was a conviction in the broad sense and had the collateral consequence of barring her from jury service. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Bromberg, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: H050653, Categories: Civil Procedure, Police Misconduct
J. Wilson finds the trial court properly rejected most claims that YouTube is liable for cryptocurrency losses suffered by victims of a scam that hijacked Steve Wozniak's channel and used faked videos of him. While the Communications Decency Act shields interactive computer services like YouTube as publishers, further proceedings are needed to determine if YouTube created its own content by providing verification badges to hijacked YouTube channels, which might put it outside the Act's immunity. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wilson, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: H050042, Categories: Fraud, Unfair Competition, Technology
[Modified.] J. Richman corrects a reference to the trial court case number with no change in judgment. The trial court lacked substantial and principled reasons to deny an applicant's petition to change her name to Candi Bimbo Doll, a name she has been using for over a decade. Public policy supports name changes and the applicant's preferred name was not chosen to defraud or confuse. It does not contain fighting words, and recent cultural trends contradict the trial court's conclusion that the word "bimbo" is necessarily vulgar, derogatory or offensive. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Richman, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: A168463, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Wiley finds that the trial court should have suppressed the gun police found in defendant's possession during an unlawful detention. A reasonable person would not have felt free to leave after police pulled their car so close to defendant's that he could only maybe squeeze out the door, and then shined their flashlights into the car from both sides. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Wiley, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: B328954, Categories: Evidence, Firearms, Search
J. O'Leary finds that the lower court properly denied defendant's peremptory challenge to the judge assigned to preside over his resentencing hearing. Peremptory challenges are only available prior to adjudication, and statute requires that the same judge who sentenced a defendant, including cases resolved in plea deals, preside over resentencing.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: O'Leary, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: G062526, Categories: Murder, Sentencing, Plea
J. Buchanan finds that the trial court properly denied a car manufacturer's motion to compel arbitration of a car buyer's lemon law claim. The manufacturer was not a party to the sales contract between the dealer and buyer containing the arbitration clause, so it cannot compel arbitration on the basis of collateral estoppel. And the dealership's provision of the manufacturer's warranty as part of the sale did not automatically incorporate the warranty into the sales contract between the dealer and buyer. Affirmed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Buchanan, Filed On: March 15, 2024, Case #: D083006, Categories: Arbitration, Consumer Law, Warranty
J. Danner finds that the trial court improperly dismissed a murder charge on double jeopardy grounds. A 1996 dismissal was entered in the furtherance of justice following two mistrials and was not the result of an application of the substantial evidence standard. The minute order cited "insufficient evidence," but the written order more fully explained the interest of justice factors that show it was not an acquittal after a finding of insufficient evidence that would entitle defendant to double jeopardy protection. Vacated.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Danner, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: H051311, Categories: Dna, Murder, Double Jeopardy
J. Richman holds that the trial court lacked substantial and principled reasons to deny an applicant's petition to change her name to Candi Bimbo Doll, a name she has been using for over a decade. Public policy supports name changes and the applicant's preferred name was not chosen to defraud or confuse. It does not contain fighting words, and recent cultural trends contradict the trial court's conclusion that the word "bimbo" is necessarily vulgar, derogatory or offensive. Reversed.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Richman, Filed On: March 14, 2024, Case #: A168463, Categories: Civil Rights
J. Earl holds that the trial court must amend its commitment order to include a statement of the maximum term associated with each offense defendant was accused of before he was acquitted upon a finding of insanity. Based on the underlying maximum possible sentences, the commitment order will reflect an indeterminate term with a maximum of life. The life term of commitment does not violate his due process or equal protection rights since an insanity acquitee may be hospitalized based on a preponderance of evidence showing continued insanity or danger to the community. Affirmed in part.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Earl, Filed On: March 12, 2024, Case #: C095986, Categories: Sentencing, Battery, Commitment
[Modified.] J. Grimes deletes one footnote with no change in judgment. 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 12, 2024, Case #: B317938, Categories: Miranda, Murder, Search
J. Streeter issues a certificate of appealability on one of nine claims defendant made in his kidnapping, robbery and murder case, which led to a death sentence. Reasonable jurists could find that the trial court improperly excused a juror who said she was "neutral" on the death penalty and said she did not want to make a life-or-death decsion, but did not say she could not impose the death penalty. Also, the statutory 10-day deadline for granting or denying requests for certficates of appealability is directory, not mandatory. A substantial claim to relief is strong enough for a certificate to issue if jurists could debate whether the trial court erred. And a request must come with a record that is adequate for appellate review.
Court: California Courts Of Appeal, Judge: Streeter, Filed On: March 11, 2024, Case #: A169146, Categories: Death Penalty, Habeas, Murder