The addition of two new justices to the Supreme Court a few months ago led to the grant of a rehearing petition in one case and the possibility of rehearing in four other cases. So, where do all those cases stand? Here’s a quick update.
The court granted rehearing almost six weeks ago in People v. Grimes, an automatic death penalty appeal. Last week, the court issued an order saying it “is presently preparing to hear reargument” and inviting the parties to submit supplemental briefing concerning any new authorities or issues. Those briefs are now due by June 15, with replies to be filed 20 court days later. (It seems rare for the Supreme Court to use court days rather than calendar days in setting a deadline.) Grimes thus might be on track for a September reargument. Actually, it will be a re-reargument; the case was argued twice before the court’s initial opinion.
In the other four cases, rehearing petitions are still pending after routine extensions in each case of the court’s time to rule. In Johnson v. California Department of Justice, there will be a ruling by a week from tomorrow. May 27 is the deadline for ruling on the rehearing petition in People v. Johnson and there will be rulings in People v. Mosley and Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley by May 29. (Actually, for the latter three cases, the court will probably rule by May 20, which is the court’s last regular Wednesday conference before the court’s time to rule runs out.)
Our guess is that the Supreme Court will grant at least one of those four pending rehearing petitions and that the order of cases, from most to least likely to be granted, is: Johnson v. California Department of Justice, People v. Mosley, Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley, and People v. Johnson.