• Paul Flores asks CA Supreme Court to overturn Kristin Smart murder conviction

    The Tribune
    December 16, 2025

    In the petition, Flores’ attorney, Soloman Wollack, claimed the Court of Appeal’s decision “omits multiple relevant facts,” including defense arguments over cadaver dogs alerts and Flores’ own intoxication.

  • Court presses state to produce wildfire maps before ranger depositions

    Daily Journal
    December 16, 2025

    (Subscription required) A Los Angeles judge on Monday urged attorneys to resolve lingering limited discovery issues "sooner rather than later" in the Palisades Fire litigation, as plaintiffs sought production of additional wildfire maps they say are needed before depositions of state parks rangers this week.

  • Two deaths from one act don't equal two strikes, high court rules

    Daily Journal
    December 16, 2025

    (Subscription required) The California Supreme Court ruled that a single act of vehicular manslaughter that killed two people cannot be counted as two prior strikes under the Three Strikes law, rejecting a decade-old appellate precedent and ordering resentencing in a DUI case. 

    Related: Metropolitan News-Enterprise

  • Incarceration in State Doesn’t Confer Habeas Jurisdiction

    Metropolitan News-Enterprise
    December 15, 2025

    The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declared on Friday that a magistrate judge correctly dismissed an inmate’s petition for a writ of habeas corpus challenging moneys being deducted from prison wages to go toward payment of a fine, but said the order was made for the wrong reason, holding that the District Court for the Central District of California is not vested with jurisdiction simply because the convict is housed here.