The Supreme Court today announced it will hear five oral arguments in December. For the first time in four years, the court will be sitting in Los Angeles.
The arguments will be live streamed, and opinions in the cases should file by March 4, 2024.
On Tuesday, December 5, the court will hear the following cases (with the issue presented as summarized by court staff or limited by the court itself; additional information about a case can be found at the link showing when the court agreed to hear the case):
Niedermeier v. FCA US LLC: (1) Does the statutory restitution remedy under the Song-Beverly Act (Civ. Code, § 1790 et seq.) necessarily include an offset for a trade-in credit? (2) If the amount that a consumer has received in a trade-in transaction must be subtracted from the consumer’s recovery, should that amount be subtracted from the statutory restitution remedy or from the consumer’s total recovery? This Lemon Law case has been on the docket a while. The court granted review in February 2021.
People v. Clark: When the court granted review in October 2022, it limited the issue to, “Can the People meet their burden of establishing a ‘pattern of criminal gang activity’ under Penal Code section 186.22 as amended by Assembly Bill No. 333 (Stats. 2021, ch. 699) by presenting evidence of individual gang members committing separate predicate offenses, or must the People provide evidence of two or more gang members working in concert with each other during each predicate offense?”
Haggerty v. Thornton: Can a trust be modified according to the statutory procedures for revocation of a trust (Prob. Code, § 15401) if the trust instrument itself sets forth identical procedures for modification and revocation? The court granted review in December 2021. Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero is recused; she authored the Court of Appeal opinion under review. Fifth District Court of Appeal Justice Charles Poochigian is sitting pro tem in her place.
People v. Hardin: Does Penal Code section 3051, subdivision (h), violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by excluding young adults sentenced to life without the possibility of parole from youth offender parole consideration, while young adults sentenced to parole-eligible terms are entitled to such consideration? The court granted review in January of this year. It later asked for supplemental briefing that suggests it’s open to revising the way it analyzes equal protection claims.
TriCoast Builders, Inc. v. Fonnegra: (1) When a trial court denies a request for relief from a jury waiver under Code of Civil Procedure section 631, and the losing party does not seek writ review but instead appeals from an adverse judgment after a bench trial, must the appellant show “actual prejudice” when challenging the order on appeal? (2) Does a trial court abuse its discretion when it denies a request for relief from a jury trial waiver without a showing that granting the request will prejudice the opposing party or the trial court? The court granted review in April 2022. Horvitz & Levy filed an amicus curiae brief supporting the defendant.