A lawsuit against Bay Area Rapid Transit by an officer who was fired after refusing to be vaccinated against COVID-19 faced possible dismissal this spring because the officer’s lawyer had fallen ill and missed numerous deadlines. When the lawyer resurfaced, she filed arguments explaining her absence and why it shouldn’t be used against her client — but three of the four cases she cited as precedent, a federal magistrate found, were nonexistent.

On May 11-15, courts shined a spotlight on the citizens that help bolster our democracy by making the cherished right of trial by jury a reality.

Stanislaus County could proceed with a $6.75 million project to upgrade Juvenile Justice courtroom space. A staff report for Tuesday’s Board of Supervisors meeting says the county’s two Juvenile Justice courtrooms are antiquated and no longer meet standards of the Judicial Council of California.

The Sixth District Court of Appeal has issued a writ of mandate ordering the trial court to scrap its order suppressing the results of a blood test conducted on a drunk driver who caused a death, rejecting his contention that an officer’s application for a search warrant was tarnished by virtue of a material omission in not revealing that he had agreed to a breath test.