The First District Court of Appeal affirmed Robert Nicholas Milo’s felony DUI conviction and 16-month prison sentence after conducting an independent review of the record under People v. Wende and finding no arguable issues for appeal.
The Fifth District vacated Tony Vasquez’s prior-strike finding because the record did not establish his 2002 gang-related conviction under current law, and it also vacated expired restitution fines and unauthorized crime-laboratory and drug-program fees.
The Third District affirmed the order denying David DePonte’s murder resentencing petition under Penal Code section 1172.6, finding his Brady and youth-related contentions not cognizable on this appeal and his Franklin, Romero, and statutory resentencing requests unavailable on eligibility, ju
The Fifth District affirmed a 225-years-to-life sentence, holding the trial court did not abuse its discretion in excluding a defendant who physically attacked his counsel from the bifurcated prior-conviction trial, and that counsel’s closing concessions did not violate McCoy because the defen
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment after independently reviewing the record under People v. Wende and finding no arguable error that would produce a more favorable disposition for defendant David Ray Snell.
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment after appointed counsel filed a Wende brief and the court found no arguable error that would result in a disposition more favorable to defendant.
The Third District affirmed Christopher Lee Wagner’s convictions but reversed his sentence because the trial court’s conflicting statements left unclear which fines and assessments it imposed.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal reversed a trial court order finding a defendant no longer eligible for resentencing under Penal Code section 1172.75 after he was released on parole, holding that eligibility is measured when CDCR identifies the person and is not lost merely because the defendant
The Third District affirmed defendant’s 1989 murder conviction but vacated his life-without-parole sentence and remanded for full resentencing after holding the trial court wrongly believed it lacked discretion to strike the special circumstances, and it directed that presentence conduct credi
The Fourth Appellate District affirmed reimposition of an upper-term robbery sentence at a section 1172.75 resentencing, holding subdivision (d)(4) permits retaining a lawfully imposed upper term without new aggravating-factor findings, and found the defendant’s absence from the hearing harmle
The First District Court of Appeal affirmed Shane Paul Daniel Titman’s second-degree burglary conviction, holding that his traffic stop was not unconstitutionally prolonged because the officer diligently investigated specific facts suggesting bicycle theft and Titman’s own disruptive con
People v. Bray: trial courts need an applicable sentencing-law change to recall a sentence.
In an unpublished memorandum, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the denial of a California prisoner’s § 2254 petition, holding that his due-process challenge to charging periods of up to five years and four months was procedurally defaulted under California’s contemporaneous-objection rule and
The court dismissed the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation on Eleventh Amendment immunity grounds but found that the plaintiff stated a cognizable Eighth Amendment claim against Warden Cynthia Rojas for housing him in an unconstitutionally small cell, ordering service on the war
A Southern District of California judge screened a prisoner’s § 1983 challenge to a drug-test disciplinary finding and dismissed it with leave to amend, because losing 30 days of credits implicates no liberty interest for someone serving life without parole and the lab result was in any event
A Northern District of California judge dismissed a state prisoner’s amended habeas petition without prejudice because it was a second or successive petition filed without the Ninth Circuit’s prior authorization.
A federal district court adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and conditionally granted habeas relief because trial counsel’s failure to investigate a possible alternate shooter was prejudicial, ordering release unless the State elects to retry the petitioner.
A federal district court adopted a magistrate judge’s unopposed recommendations in full and dismissed a federal prisoner’s § 2241 petition challenging his conviction without prejudice for lack of jurisdiction, also declining a certificate of appealability.
A magistrate judge recommended summarily dismissing a former federal prisoner’s § 2241 petition because he did not qualify for the § 2255(e) escape hatch, having previously had an unobstructed procedural opportunity to raise his claims.
The Ninth Circuit affirmed Romero’s convictions for RICO conspiracy and drug conspiracy, holding that the district court did not abuse its discretion in admitting Agent Call’s expert testimony on MS-13 structure and activities, and did not plainly err in attributing co-conspirator Melgar
The Ninth Circuit denied a Nigerian citizen’s petition for review of a BIA order dismissing her appeal from an IJ’s denial of withholding of removal and CAT protection, holding it had jurisdiction over legal questions but not factual corroboration challenges, and that the wire fraud cons
The Ninth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Gustavo Aldana-Martinez for a drug-trafficking money-laundering conspiracy, holding that sufficient circumstantial evidence supported the jury’s finding of knowledge, the district court properly declined a withdrawal instruction unsupported by the e
California’s Second District Court of Appeal affirmed Daniel Peter Masterson’s two forcible rape convictions and consecutive 15-years-to-life sentences, holding that the multiple-victim alternate penalty scheme permitted prosecution at any time and rejecting his evidentiary, discovery, religious-fre
The Court of Appeal affirmed a 96-years-to-life sentence for numerous sexual offenses, holding that the omitted juvenile dependency records and other impeachment evidence did not create a reasonable probability of a different outcome, without deciding whether trial counsel’s performance was de