Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held Friday that a trial judge erred in conditioning leave to amend a complaint, to add allegations necessary to withstand a pleading challenge, on the payment of $25,000 in attorney fees to the opposing side to account for costs associated with filing a demurrer, saying the governing statute does not authorize such an order.

Div. Seven of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that Penal Code §3051, which requires defendants convicted of crimes that were committed before the age of 26 to be granted “youth offender parole hearings” after 14 years of incarceration on determinate sentences, does not run afoul of the California Constitution as applied to certain sex offenders based on the fact that an earlier voter-approved measure calls for longer sentences for violent predators.

The Butte County Superior Court will recognize Law Day on Friday, May 1, with an Elementary School Mock Trial Program at the North Butte County Courthouse in Chico. Two local 5th-grade classes will participate in a theater-style mock trial of a criminal case using a script written by Chico High School students.

(Subscription required) The California Supreme Court on Thursday amended Rule 7.3 of the Rules of Professional Conduct to bar attorneys from soliciting respondents in domestic violence restraining order cases before service, while rejecting proposed amendments to Rules 8.2 and 8.4 that would have expanded discipline for false or misleading public statements about judicial proceedings.