Yesterday’s Supreme Court conference, a double one, was the second in a row without a straight grant. That doesn’t mean there was no interest in adding cases to the docket; there were dissenting votes from six denials of review. We’ll report on those — and other things — in Part II of the conference recap.
It was still a short-handed conference, with just six justices participating, because Governor Newsom has left unfilled an almost 12–month-long vacancy on the court.
Clemencies approved
Supreme Court OKs two more LWOP commutations and two more pardons.
Another DMV hearing grant-and-hold
Freedman v. Department of Motor Vehicles is another grant-and-hold for Romane v. Department of Motor Vehicles (see here), in which the court limited the issue to, “Under what circumstances does an administrative per se [APS] hearing officer’s relationship with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) violate a driver’s due process right to an impartial adjudicator by creating an unacceptable risk of bias during a DMV driver’s license suspension hearing?”
In an unpublished opinion, the First District, Division Five, Court of Appeal followed its decision in Chi v. Department of Motor Vehicles, another Romane grant-and-hold (see here), in rejecting the plaintiff’s argument that a hearing officer violated his due process rights because the officer both introduced evidence at the hearing and decided the case.
Criminal case grant-and-holds
There were five criminal case grant-and-holds. Two more are waiting for a decision in People v. Eaton (see here), which is scheduled for argument next month; one more is on hold for People v. Munoz (see here, here, and here); there’s another one waiting for People v. Mares (see here); and one more is on hold for People v. Dixon (see here).
Grant-and-hold dispositions (see here)
The court dismissed review in two cases that had been waiting for the decision in Gorobets v. Jaguar Land Rover North America, LLC (2026) 20 Cal.5th 501 (see here): Maqueda v. Kia Motors America (see here) and Zavala v. Hyundai Motor America (see here).
