A truthful recitation repeatedly made by a YouTuber/podcaster that the show-business news publication Variety had quoted a complaint filed in the Los Angeles Superior Court as alleging that a television and movie producer had perpetrated a Ponzi scheme can give rise to liability for defamation where accusation of unlawful conduct had been quickly withdrawn, the Court of Appeal for this district held yesterday.

The Sixth District Court of Appeal has affirmed a summary judgment in favor of a law firm in an action brought by a man whose right leg was amputated below the knee as a result of an accident and who accepted a $2 million settlement which, he contends, is too low and that his consent was the product of faulty advice from his attorneys, with the justices saying that the result is unfair but that it is compelled by binding precedent.

The court’s unanimous opinion by Justice Goodwin Liu held reversal was necessary “[b]ecause of the erroneous discharge of a juror during guilt phase deliberations.” The superior court had discharged the juror for what it “perceive[d] to be a strong anti-prosecution bias” and for “a failure to deliberate.”

(Subscription required) A group of retired judges arguing that California's 1,320-day cap on temporary judicial service discriminates by age faced tough questioning from a 1st District Court of Appeal panel. Justice Kathleen Banke pushed back on claims of disparate impact, pointing to a lack of evidence showing intentional age-based bias.