The Ninth Circuit affirmed the defendant’s conviction for knowingly importing methamphetamine, holding that any Rule 16 disclosure error regarding an automobile expert was harmless and that the government’s closing argument did not violate the defendant’s Fifth Amendment right agai
The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed Jose Manuel Cisneros’s two Fresno County judgments after independently reviewing the record under People v. Wende and finding no reasonably arguable factual or legal issues.
A magistrate judge in the Eastern District of California recommended dismissing a federal prisoner’s pro se § 2241 habeas petition because his claims about a denied medical device and inadequate care challenge the conditions of his confinement, not the fact or duration of it, and declined to c
A federal magistrate judge recommended dismissing a pro se prisoner’s Section 2241 habeas petition without prejudice for failure to prosecute after mail sent to him was returned as undeliverable and he failed to give the court a current address within thirty days, and separately ordered the Cl
A magistrate judge recommended denying a stay because Rendon did not establish good cause for failing to exhaust two claims, while recommending dismissal of those claims without prejudice and continued proceedings on the other two.
A federal magistrate judge ordered a state prisoner to show cause within thirty days why his habeas corpus petition should not be dismissed for failure to exhaust state remedies: the petition showed no indication that the due process claim was presented to the California Supreme Court, and stated th
The Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed two-year prison sentences for a defendant who repeatedly violated probation after pleading no contest to methamphetamine possession, finding no reasonably arguable issues after independent review under People v. Wende.
In an unpublished opinion, the Fifth District Court of Appeal affirmed a criminal threats judgment, holding that a challenge to a protective order included as a term of a no-contest plea agreement is a challenge to the validity of the plea itself and requires a certificate of probable cause under Pe
The Fifth District Court of Appeal independently reviewed the record after appellate counsel found no arguable issues, concluded that no reasonably arguable factual or legal issues existed, and affirmed Bretton Austin Begaye’s second degree murder judgment.
The Fifth District conditionally reversed Adam Esparza’s judgment because the trial court treated his excluded antisocial personality disorder diagnosis as a categorical bar to mental health diversion despite his other qualifying diagnoses.
The Fifth District Court of Appeal held that the gang conspiracy convictions were unsupported as to the charged target offense but could be modified to a lesser included target felony, vacated the sentences on counts 2 and 5 for resentencing, rejected the remaining challenges, and a later order modi
The Court of Appeal ordered a specific wording change in its October 12, 2026 opinion, denied Alfred Eugene Shallowhorn’s petition for rehearing, and stated that there is no change in the judgment.
The Court of Appeal denied Crystal Gillespie’s petition for a writ of mandate challenging the denial of pretrial mental health diversion, holding that the trial court applied the correct legal standard, that its credibility finding about the prosecution expert’s limited use of AI was sup
The Third District Court of Appeal affirmed a 360-day juvenile hall commitment after appointed counsel filed a Wende brief and the court’s independent review of the entire record found no arguable error that would result in a more favorable disposition for the minor.
On remand from the California Supreme Court for reconsideration under People v. Lopez, the Court of Appeal again affirmed denial of Jesus Espinoza’s section 1172.6 resentencing petition because the record conclusively showed he was convicted of second degree murder as a direct aider and abetto
The First District Court of Appeal, Division Five, treated Skidmore’s appeal from the denial of his postconviction motion as a habeas corpus petition and denied it, holding that using his 1985 offense to enhance sentences for crimes committed in 2008 did not impose retroactive punishment for the ear
The Court of Appeal affirmed a trial court’s decision to resentence a defendant under Penal Code section 1172.75 but refuse to strike his prior strike convictions or serious felony enhancement, finding no abuse of discretion and rejecting an ineffective assistance of counsel claim.
A federal district court adopted a magistrate judge’s recommendation and dismissed a state prisoner’s habeas petition, finding that his challenge to the denial of re-sentencing under California Penal Code § 1172.6 did not present a cognizable federal claim and that any challenge to his u
The Second District Court of Appeal, Division Three, dismissed James Ray Mitchell’s appeals as moot because he completed his sentence and was neither in custody nor on parole, even though the California Supreme Court had transferred the matter with the direction to vacate his sentence and reco
The Court of Appeal affirmed the trial court’s refusal to dismiss the remaining firearm enhancement on the kidnapping count, but modified the judgment and remanded to reflect 4,798 days of custody credit plus 354 days of presentence conduct credit, for 5,152 total days.
The Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment imposing full, consecutive sentences for sodomy and forcible oral copulation against the same victim, holding that substantial evidence supported the trial court’s finding that the offenses occurred on separate occasions under Penal Code section 667.6(
In an unpublished opinion following transfer from the California Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal reversed Weldon’s stipulated three-year-four-month sentence because he could not have waived section 1170(b)’s then-nonexistent requirements and specified the waiver, modification, and ple
California’s First District Court of Appeal affirmed a $6,958 victim-restitution award for a stolen and crashed car, holding that the low end of its Kelley Blue Book range supplied a rational and factual basis and that no salvage-value deduction was required.
A magistrate judge recommends dismissing a federal prisoner’s § 2241 petition for lack of jurisdiction because § 2255 remains the exclusive remedy for challenging his conviction, and separately directs the clerk to randomly assign a district judge.