Div. Two of the First District Court of Appeal has questioned the continued viability of a 1958 decision proclaiming that a superior court may not order that a litigant, represented by counsel, be personally present in court—but two California Supreme Court cases upon which the 66-year-old decision relied are not addressed, and neither has been overruled on the relevant point by the state’s high court.

(Subscription required) On Wednesday, Chief Justice Patricia Guerrero appointed several new members to the Judicial Council whose terms will begin Sept. 15. and reappointed five sitting members to the board.

In Needham, the court will address whether the Sexually Violent Predator Act allows the People to retain a private expert to testify at trial as to whether a defendant is a sexually violent predator, or whether the expert witnesses are limited to those designated by the State Department of State Hospitals.

They alleged that a court dominated by Democratic appointees had acted with political motives rather than legal reasoning, ruling that