The First District Court of Appeal held that a trial court may reimpose upper terms at a section 1172.75 resentencing without new findings beyond a reasonable doubt when upper terms were originally imposed, but remanded for recalculation of custody credits.
The Ninth Circuit held that AEDPA deference barred habeas relief because no Supreme Court case clearly prohibited the midtrial juror removal at issue.
Alternative Sentencing-Factor Analysis Made Eligibility Error Harmless.
Juvenile Sentence Allowing Release at 65 Was Not Life Without Parole.
This unpublished memorandum disposition reinforces the Ninth Circuit’s application of Jessup v.
This decision clarifies the limits of implied malice murder liability for drug suppliers in household overdose cases.
A district judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed a pro se state prisoner’s habeas action without prejudice after he failed to amend his petition or otherwise respond, and declined a certificate of appealability.
A federal district judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas petition as an unauthorized second or successive petition, without prejudice to refiling if the Ninth Circuit authorizes it.
A federal district judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed a pro se state-custody habeas petition without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to follow court orders, and declined to issue a certificate of appealability.
In an unreported initial screening order, the Northern District of California granted a state prisoner leave to proceed in forma pauperis and ordered the State to answer or move to dismiss his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 habeas petition within sixty days, without deciding the merits.
A federal district court denied a state inmate’s Rule 59(e) motion for reconsideration of the dismissal of his 28 U.S.C. § 2254 parole petition, finding he had misread the earlier order and had shown no clear error, new evidence, or change in law.
A Central District of California judge adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed without prejudice a federal prisoner’s habeas petition seeking residential reentry placement, finding his First Step Act claim abandoned and his Second Chance Act claim unripe.
A federal district court in California denied a state prisoner’s 28 U.S.C. § 2254 petition because the allegedly late-disclosed Brady material about the lead detective was not material, and it declined to issue a certificate of appealability.
The Eastern District of California adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendations in full and dismissed a state prisoner’s § 2254 action without prejudice for failure to prosecute and failure to comply with court orders, after he did not file an amended petition when given leave to do so,
A federal district court adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas petition without prejudice because he never paid the filing fee, sought in forma pauperis status, or responded to the court’s order, and it declined to issue a certificate o
The Court of Appeal affirmed Marco Estrada’s 22-year prison sentence for two assaults with a semiautomatic firearm and felon in possession of a firearm, holding that substantial evidence supported the convictions and that the trial court acted within its discretion on the upper term, firearm e
The First District Court of Appeal reversed three convictions for nonforcible lewd acts committed in 1993–1994 because the six-year statute of limitations expired two decades before prosecution began, and section 799’s unlimited limitations period was not triggered because Brown could not cons
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the juvenile court’s judgment, holding that Penal Code section 422.3, which created a new offense for threats at sensitive locations such as schools, does not apply retroactively under In re Estrada to reduce the punishment for N.Y.’s attempted
The Sixth District Court of Appeal affirmed a juvenile court’s order denying a minor’s post-disposition motion to reduce his felony firearm discharge conviction to a misdemeanor and seal his record, after conducting an independent review of the record and finding no arguable issues on ap
The Court of Appeal modified the defendant’s sentence for oral copulation (count 5) from 25 years to life down to 15 years to life, and modified the sentence for using a minor as a model for a sexual act (count 12) from six years to three years, but otherwise affirmed the judgment convicting h
The Court of Appeal affirmed a dentist’s conviction for sexually assaulting patients and an intern, holding that expert testimony on sexual assault trauma syndrome was properly admitted to explain counterintuitive victim behavior and that the jury instruction on how to consider that testimony
The district court adopted the magistrate judge’s findings and recommendations and dismissed a state prisoner’s § 2254 habeas petition without prejudice because he failed to file an amended petition after being warned that dismissal could result.
The Fifth District affirmed a resentencing order under Penal Code section 1172.75 that dismissed two invalid prior prison term enhancements and reduced the count 1 attempted murder term to the midterm of seven years, but otherwise reimposed life with the possibility of parole on count 2 and two 25-y
The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed Johnathan Pugh’s convictions for assault with a deadly weapon while confined, holding that any error in giving an expert-testimony jury instruction was forfeited and harmless, that a nurse was qualified to opine on inmate-manufactured weapon injuries