Cary Anthony Stayner, 64, made a host of challenges in his appeal to the state’s high court. He claimed authorities violated his Miranda rights, that he faced coercive questioning from law enforcement, and that police had no probable cause to arrest him. Stayner also argued the trial court judge made errors ranging from jury selection to judicial bias.

Div. One of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that an employee’s hybrid schedule, under which she regularly worked from home, did not turn her residence into a second office for purposes of a rule allowing employer liability for accidents that happen between worksites but not for crashes that happen during commutes, saying the fact that she always appeared in person on the day of the week at issue meant that she was not acting in the course of her duties.

(Subscription required) Judge Tony J. Cho's move to family law has transformed his work on the bench, requiring hands-on engagement and difficult, child-centered decisions. 

The Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday reversed an order vacating the conviction and death sentence of a California man who admitted to raping a woman before setting her on fire, saying that District Court Judge Otis D. Wright II of the Central District of California wrongly found that the California Supreme Court acted unreasonably in rejecting the defendant’s ineffective assistance of counsel claims in his state-court habeas corpus petition.