Since 2023, more than 1.7 million family law, restraining order, probate and other civil proceedings have had no written transcriptions, according to the Judicial Branch of California. That’s because there’s a statewide shortage of certified court reporters. When no reporters are available, state law, with a few exceptions, bans recording in courtrooms, even though many courts have recording devices.

The Fifth District Court of Appeal has held that the Los Angeles Superior Court—which in 1985 sentenced a murderer to 15 years to life plus seven years—was without jurisdiction when, on Sept. 30, 2024, Judge Ricardo R. Ocampo granted the defendant, who is suffering from cancer, a compassionate release from prison, pursuant to Penal Code §1172.2.

A divided Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held yesterday that a defendant who filed a petition for a writ of error coram nobis—a companion to habeas corpus petitions for those who are no longer in custody—was not entitled to have his conviction for possessing a firearm while being unlawfully present in the U.S. vacated due to a failure to instruct the jury that he must have been aware of his immigration status.

Div. Seven of this district’s Court of Appeal held yesterday that a defendant, who was sentenced to death for the 2001 slaying of a Los Angeles-area college student and to additional time based on allegations of prior periods of incarceration, may immediately seek resentencing under recent amendments to the Penal Code that retroactively invalidate most prior prison term enhancements without waiting for resolution of his automatic appeal.