Tomorrow morning, the Supreme Court will file its opinion in People v. Bloom. (Briefs here; oral argument video here.) This will be the first opinion in any of the three cases argued in February. The opinions in the other two cases should file by May 2.
Court of Appeal justices are sitting pro tem on the January cases in place of Justice Mariano-Florentino Cuéllar, who left the court at the end of October and wasn’t replaced until the end of March.
Bloom is an automatic direct appeal from a January 2001 judgment of death. The court’s website does not list issues for death penalty appeals. But, from the oral argument, it sounds like a major issue is whether the defendant was competent to stand trial. Counsel was appointed in September 2003. Initial briefing was completed in May 2014. First District, Division One, Justice Sandra Margulies is the pro tem.
The opinion can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.