(Subscription required) After more than three decades as a civil litigator, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Ronald F. Frank sought out one of the court system's busiest assignments -- unlawful detainers -- where a compressed calendar, self-represented litigants and competing hardships demand quick preparation and careful judgment.

The Eighth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has held that a suppression motion was properly denied in a case where a man exchanged sexually explicit images with a 15-year-old and was caught after Snap, Inc., located in Santa Monica, and Google, headquartered in Santa Clara County’s City of Mountain View, provided records, in obedience to a search warrant, leading to ascertainment of the defendant’s identity.

(Subscription required) The California Supreme Court unanimously reversed Christopher Charles Lightsey's reinstated death penalty judgment, finding prosecutors could not show a retrospective hearing could reliably determine his competency to stand trial in 1994.

After years of delays and pushback, California regulators approved major new rules requiring millions of property owners to limit plants and other flammable materials within 5 feet of homes. The California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection voted 8-0 to pass the long-awaited rules — called Zone 0 — on Wednesday.