Tomorrow morning the Supreme Court will file its opinions in Abbott Laboratories v. Superior Court, In re Scoggins, and People v. Stamps, which were all argued remotely in April. (Briefs here; oral argument video here.)
Abbott Laboratories raises the issue whether a district attorney has the authority to recover restitution and civil penalties under the Unfair Competition Law (Bus. & Prof. Code, § 17200 et seq.) for violations occurring outside his or her territorial jurisdiction. Justice Joshua Groban is recused and First District, Division Three, Court of Appeal Justice Carin Fujisaki — the Chief Justice’s former principal attorney — is sitting pro tem. The court granted review in August 2018. [Disclosure: Horvitz & Levy filed an amicus brief in the case.]
In Scoggins, the court will decide whether the evidence at trial was sufficient to support the robbery-murder special circumstance under People v. Banks (2015) 61 Cal.4th 788 and People v. Clark (2016) 63 Cal.4th 522. The habeas corpus petitioner was sentenced to life without parole for a fatal shooting, but he was not the shooter, nor did he intend the shooting, but he did plan to have the shooter beat and rob the victim. The court granted review in April 2019.
The question in Stamps is whether a certificate of probable cause is required for a defendant to challenge a negotiated sentence based on a subsequent ameliorative, retroactive change in the law. The court granted review in June 2019.
The opinions can be viewed tomorrow starting at 10:00 a.m.