Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge did not err in denying a mid-trial continuance to a defendant after his lead attorney announced that she had tested positive for COVID-19, finding no abuse of discretion in the determination that a second-chair lawyer with allegedly limited civil experience could take over the case involving a car collision for a few days while she recovered in isolation.

Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal yesterday upended a defendant’s conviction for arson of “grassland” where the fire in question was set to a green patch adjacent to a sidewalk on a busy residential street, saying that the presence of natural turf is insufficient to trigger the enhanced criminal sanctions applicable where the blaze affects certain types of natural features.

Div. One of the First District Court of Appeal has held that although a marital settlement agreement provided that the wife would be awarded the marital home and would be responsible for “all debts thereon,” there was no implied obligation that the husband’s name be removed from the mortgage.

A U.S. judge vacated a Trump administration policy implemented last year that made it harder for wind and solar energy projects to claim ​federal tax subsidies, according to court documents. The decision is the latest legal blow ‌to U.S. President Donald Trump's wide-ranging efforts to slow development of clean energy technologies, which he has said are unreliable and unfairly subsidized.