The Supreme Court’s April calendar in Los Angeles will have nine cases, eight of which are criminal matters, including three automatic death penalty appeals.
On April 6 and 7, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as stated on the court’s website):
People v. Castillolopez: Was defendant’s possession of a concealed and opened pocketknife with the blade in its fully extended position sufficient to sustain his conviction for carrying a concealed dirk or dagger in violation of Penal Code section 21310?
The case is before the court on the People’s petition for review. It has attracted amicus briefs from the Knife Rights Foundation, the America Knife & Tool Institute, and the Second Amendment Foundation.
People v. Sánchez: This is an automatic appeal from a March 1995 judgment of death. The court’s website does not list issues for such appeals.
People v. Becerra: Continued from the March calendar, this is an automatic appeal from an October 1997 judgment of death. The court’s website does not list issues for such appeals, but the court did send out an oral argument focus letter last week stating it would concentrate primarily on the issue whether the trial court arbitrarily revoked the defendant’s self-representation in violation of the 6th and 14th amendments.
Nickerson v. Stonebridge Life Insurance Company: Is an award of attorney fees under Brandt v. Superior Court (1985) 37 Cal.3d 813 properly included as compensatory damages for purposes of calculating the ratio between punitive and compensatory damages where the fees are awarded by the jury, but excluded from compensatory damages when they are awarded by the trial court after the jury has rendered its verdict?
People v. Sanchez: Was defendant’s Sixth Amendment right to confrontation violated by the gang expert’s reliance on testimonial hearsay (Crawford v. Washington (2004) 541 U.S. 36)?
People v. Hubbard: Does Penal Code section 424 apply only to public officers who are charged with the receipt, safekeeping, transfer, or disbursement of public moneys, or does the statute apply to a public officer who authorizes the disbursement of public funds even if the actual authority to approve the disbursement lies elsewhere? As in Castillolopez, it was the People who petitioned for review.
People v. Conley: Does the Three Strikes Reform Act of 2012 (Pen. Code, §§ 667, subd. (e)(2)(C), 1170.12, subd. (c)(2)(C)), which reduces punishment for certain non-violent third-strike offenders, apply retroactively to a defendant who was sentenced before the Act’s effective date but whose judgment was not final until after that date?
People v. Wade: Is a defendant carrying a firearm “on his person” within the meaning of Penal Code section 25850, subdivision (a), if he is wearing a backpack containing a firearm?
People v. Clark: This is an automatic appeal from a December 1997 judgment of death. The court’s website does not list issues for such appeals.
