We previously noted that the Supreme Court had not heard a death penalty appeal since February. That trend will come to an end next month, when the Supreme Court will hear arguments in People v. Helzer. Although the case is set for argument on November 8, the court issued a briefing schedule for supplemental briefs under which the supplemental respondent’s brief is due on November 8 and the petitioner’s supplemental reply brief is due November 22.

As usual, the oral arguments will be livestreamed.

The other cases on calendar are:

Estrada et al. v. Royalty Carpet Mills, Inc. The issue for review, per the Supreme Court’s website is: “Do trial courts have inherent authority to ensure that claims under the Private Attorneys General Act (Lab. Code, § 2698 et seq.) will be manageable at trial, and to strike or narrow such claims if they cannot be managed?”

Romero et al. v. Shih et al. Issue presented: “Did the trial court correctly find the existence of an implied easement under the facts?”

In re Vaquera. Issues presented: “(1) Did the Court of Appeal err by disagreeing with People v. Jimenez (2019) 35 Cal.App.5th 373 and endorsing as mandatory the sentencing practice prohibited in that case; (2) Is the Court of Appeal’s decision incorrect under People v. Mancebo (2002) 27 Cal.4th 735; (3) Did the Court of Appeal err by failing to address petitioner’s claims as to the issues of waiver and estoppel?”