On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinion in People v. Patton. (Briefs here; oral argument video here.)
As summarized by court staff (see here), the opinion is expected to decide whether the trial court engaged in impermissible judicial factfinding by relying on the preliminary hearing transcript to deny defendant’s Penal Code section 1172.6 petition at the prima facie stage. (See People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952 [see here].) The court granted review in June 2023. More about the case here.
This will be the third of four opinions in cases argued on the December calendar. The opinion in the last December case — the People v. McGhee death penalty appeal — isn’t due until April 3 because of post-argument briefing. The other argued but undecided cases are the three on the January calendar (opinions due by April 7) and the four on the February calendar (opinions due by May 5).
The Patton opinion can be viewed Monday starting at 10:00 a.m.
