(Subscription required) A federal jury in Los Angeles returned a defense verdict for Los Angeles County Sheriff's Deputy Carlos Vega, closing a 12-year civil rights case that culminated in a U.S. Supreme Court decision sharply limiting when Miranda violations can support damages claims under federal law.

Homicides in California surged during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, killings are down to historic lows in Los Angeles, Oakland, San Francisco and many other cities.

Div. Three of the Fourth District Court of Appeal has held that a trial judge erred in finding that a defendant was a direct aider and abettor of an implied malice murder based on his having encouraged the shooter to bring a firearm to a location where rival gang members had been spotted, saying that carrying a gun to a gang fight is not inherently dangerous to human life.

(Subscription required) A coalition of Bay Area legal consumer and housing advocates secured a partial reversal in a California Court of Appeal decision that enables renters to sue landlords for violations of background-check disclosure laws, even when tenants cannot show they suffered harm.