Was the evidence sufficient to support the criminal street gang enhancements imposed under Penal Code section 186.22, subdivision (b)? On 4/21/2021, the court ordered the issues to be briefed and argued in this case limited to the following: When a member of a criminal street gang acts alone in committing a felony, what evidence will suffice to establish the felony…
Does sufficient evidence support Hoskins's Count 1 conviction for conspiracy to commit murder? [Editor's Note: Count 1 in this case alleged that multiple defendants conspired to commit murder (Pen. Code, §§ 182, subd. (a), 187) for the benefit of a criminal street gang (§ 186.22, subd. (b)(1)) between January 1, 2012, and April 23, 2014. On appeal, it was undisputed that the…
Whether admitting a codefendant's redacted out-of-court confession that immediately inculpates a defendant based on the surrounding context violates the defendant's rights under the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. Held: Prosecutors have long tried criminal defendants jointly in cases where the defendants are alleged to have engaged in a common criminal scheme. However, when prosecutors seek to introduce a nontestifying…
People v. Bankston and People v. Hin, both automatic appeals, include an issue involving the retroactivity of the provision in Assembly Bill No. 2799 (Stats. 2022, ch. 973) limiting the admissibility of creative expressions (Evid. Code, § 352.2). In Bankston, on 6/11/25, the Court ordered supplemental briefing on the issue of whether harmless error analysis applies to RJA violations under Penal…
Did the trial court engage in impermissible judicial factfinding by relying on the preliminary hearing transcript to deny defendant’s Penal Code section 1172.6 petition at the prima facie stage? (See People v. Lewis (2021) 11 Cal.5th 952.) Held: The trial court may rely on the prosecution's unchallenged citations to the preliminary hearing transcript to determine whether a prima facie case…
Whether the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment permits the prosecution in a criminal trial to present testimony by a substitute expert conveying the testimonial statements of a non-testifying forensic analyst, on the grounds that (a) the testifying expert offers some independent opinion and the analyst’s statements are offered not for their truth but to explain the expert’s opinion, and…
The issues to be briefed and argued are as follows: 1. Does the presence of 0.36 grams of loose marijuana on the floor of a vehicle constitute an open container violation under Health & Safety Code, section 11362.3, subdivision (a)(4)? 2. Does the answer to this question affect whether there was probable cause for a warrantless vehicle search under the…
This case presents the following questions: 1. a. Whether the State's suppression of the key prosecution witness's admission he was under the care of a psychiatrist and failure to correct that witness's false testimony about that care and related diagnosis violate the due process of law. See Brady v. Maryland, 373 U.S. 83 (1963); Napue v. Illinois, 360 U.S. 264…
This case presents the following issue: Is a transcript of grand jury proceedings admissible at a Penal Code section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing? Review on this issue has also been granted with briefing deferred in: First District People v. Superior Court (Bustos-Montes) (A172776) [nonpub. opn.], review granted 8/13/2025 (S291507)
Did the trial court err by finding that an officer’s preliminary hearing testimony recounting a codefendant’s statements was admissible at a Penal Code section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing under the declarations against interest exception to the hearsay rule (Evid. Code, § 1230)?