The Supreme Court will hold hearings in eight cases next month after its typical argument-less July and August.  Of the eight, all but one on the September calendar — announced today — are criminal cases, and five of them are direct appeals in capital cases.

The abundance of death penalty appeals is a sign the court is trying to accede to what it recognized as Proposition 66’s “exhortation to the parties and the courts to handle [death] cases as expeditiously as is consistent with the fair and principled administration of justice.”

On September 3 and 4, in San Francisco, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as summarized by court staff or stated by the court itself):

People v. Lopez:  Does Arizona v. Gant (2009) 556 U.S. 332 permit a peace officer to search the interior of a suspect’s vehicle for identification if the suspect fails to provide it upon request?  (See In re Arturo D. (2002) 27 Cal.4th 60.)  The court granted review in January 2017.

People v. Rhoades:  This is an automatic direct appeal from a September 1999 judgment of death.  The court’s website does not list issues for such cases.  Counsel was appointed in August 2004 and initial briefing was completed in September 2012.

People v. Fayed:  This is an automatic direct appeal from a November 2011 judgment of death.  The court’s website does not list issues for such cases.  Uncommonly, there is retained counsel in this automatic appeal.  Briefing was completed in October 2015.

The one civil case is Wishnev v. Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company.  It comes from the Ninth Circuit, which asked the Supreme Court to decide:  1. Are the lenders identified in Article XV of the California Constitution, see Cal. Const. art. XV, § 1, as being exempt from the restrictions otherwise imposed by that article, nevertheless subject to the requirement in section 1916-2 of the California Civil Code that a lender may not compound interest “unless an agreement to that effect is clearly expressed in writing and signed by the party to be charged therewith”?, and 2. Does an agreement meet the requirement of section 1916-2 if it is comprised of: (1) an application for insurance signed by the borrower, and (2) a policy of insurance containing an agreement for compound interest that is subsequently attached to the application, thus constituting the entire contract between the parties pursuant to section 10113 of the California Insurance Code?  In March 2018, the Supreme Court agreed to answer the questions.

People v. Krebs:  This is an automatic direct appeal from a July 2001 judgment of death.  The court’s website does not list issues for such cases.  Counsel was appointed in September 2006 and briefing was completed in November 2011.

People v. Johnson:  This capital case concerns a murder and a rape committed 40 years ago.  In 1987, the Supreme Court reversed the defendant’s convictions and penalty (People v. Johnson (1987) 233 Cal.Rptr. 562), but, after a rare rehearing, affirmed the murder conviction and again reversed the penalty (People v. Johnson (1988) 47 Cal.3d 576).  The present automatic direct appeal is from an October 1992 judgment of death, apparently after a retrial.  The court’s website does not list issues for such cases.  Counsel was appointed in December 1997 and new counsel was appointed in December 2005.  Initial briefing was completed in May 2014.  The ACLU filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the appellant.

People v. Liu:  For the purpose of determining whether a conviction for theft of access card information in violation of Penal Code section 484e, subdivision (d), is eligible to be reduced to a misdemeanor under Proposition 47 when the information has been used to obtain property, is the value of the access card information limited to the fair market value of the information itself on the black market or can the value of the property obtained by the use of the information be considered?  (See People v. Romanowski (2017) 2 Cal.5th 903, 914.)  The court granted review in June 2018.

People v. Beck and Cruz:  This is an automatic direct appeal from an October 1992 judgment of death.  The court’s website does not list issues for such cases.  Counsel was appointed in December 1995 and April 1996, and briefing was completed in August 2012.