The Supreme Court will start the new year with an all-criminal law oral argument calendar, the court announced today. (OK, one of the cases is a habeas corpus matter, which is actually a civil case, but it’s still a review of criminal proceedings.)
The court on January 8 in San Francisco will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as stated on the court’s website):
People v. Leiva: (1) Did the trial court have jurisdiction to revoke defendant’s probation? (2) Did sufficient evidence support the trial court’s finding that defendant either failed to report to his probation officer or reentered the country illegally? (3) Did the trial court’s finding rely upon admissible evidence?
In re Vicks: Can Penal Code section 3041.5, as amended by the “Victims’ Bill of Rights Act of 2008: Marsy’s Law,” which decreased the frequency of parole consideration hearings, be applied to life inmates convicted before the effective date of the amendments without violating the ex post facto clauses of the state and federal Constitutions?
People v. Delgado: (1) Did the trial court have a duty to instruct on its own motion on an aiding and abetting theory of liability when defendant personally performed some elements of the charged offense and another person performed the remaining elements required to complete the crime? (2) If so, did the Court of Appeal correctly conclude that the trial court’s failure to instruct on aiding and abetting was harmless error?
People v. Wilkins: Should the trial court have instructed the jury, as requested, with CALCRIM No. 3261, on the theory that a homicide and an underlying felony do not constitute one continuous transaction for purposes of the felony-murder rule if the killer has escaped to a place of temporary safety before the homicide takes place?
People v. Carbajal: Was retrial on sentencing allegations under the one strike law (Pen. Code, section 667.61) barred by double jeopardy although the first jury never reached or resolved the issue?
People v. Pearson: [This is an automatic appeal from a December 1996 judgment of death. The court’s website does not list issues for such appeals.]