Div. Six of this district’s Court of Appeal has held that hospitals enjoy broad immunity from claims relating to actions taken by mentally ill patients after their release from an involuntary period of in-patient psychiatric treatment, rejecting the assertion by the parents of a man who killed himself hours after he was set free from a Ventura County hospital, over their protestations, that an exception exists for cases of gross negligence.

Div. One of the Fourth District Court of Appeal held yesterday that the warrantless search of a parked vehicle, which contained a shooting target and loose high-powered rifle ammunition visible in the back seat as well as a tactical vest in plain view through the partially-open lid to the rear compartment, was violative of the Fourth Amendment, drawing dissent over the circumstances under which a party can be said to have a reasonable expectation of privacy.

As a jury contemplates punitive damages in her civil trial, the California Supreme Court Wednesday rejected a defense petition asking it to review Grossman Burn Foundation co-founder Rebecca Grossman’s conviction for running down two boys crossing a Westlake Village street with their family in 2020.

Jake Dear, who served as chief supervising attorney of the California Supreme Court under three Chief Justices as part of his 40-year career at the court, died Friday, June 5 after a short illness. Dear, who was also widely known as a leading scholar regarding the court’s history and influence, was 69.