California Legal Brief

The Rule of People v. Nielsen is that a trial court's failure to make express findings under Penal Code section 1170(b)(6) does not require reversal when the record demonstrates the court understood and considered childhood trauma as a mitigating factor and weighed it against aggravating circumstances, under circumstances where the defendant made an initial showing that childhood trauma contributed to drug addiction and criminal conduct, but no party explicitly raised section 1170(b)(6) at sentencing.

The Rule of People v. Nelson is that a trial court may properly deny mental health diversion when it finds as trier of fact that the defendant's mental health disorders were not a significant factor in the commission of the charged offenses, under circumstances where the court expressly rejects expert testimony linking mental illness to criminal conduct and finds the defendant poses a public safety risk based on extensive criminal history.

The Rule of People v. Superior Court (Taylor) is that mental health diversion may not be granted when no evidence supports that the defendant will comply with treatment in the community, even where experts opine the defendant would not pose an unreasonable risk to public safety if treated, under circumstances where the defendant has a documented history of abandoning treatment facilities and refusing prescribed medication.

The Rule of In re the Domestic Partnership of Torres Campos and Munoz is that a party forfeits the right to challenge a trial court's reliance on fictitious case authorities when that party's own counsel drafted and submitted the order containing those fabricated citations without objecting or alerting the court to the error, under circumstances where the party had ample opportunity to verify the citations and correct the error in the trial court.

The Rule of Flareau is that a trial court abuses its residual discretion when denying mental health diversion based on finding that other factors were "more" motivating than the defendant's mental disorder, under circumstances where the defendant is eligible for diversion and the mental disorder was at least a contributing factor to the offense.

The Rule of In re Reyna R. is that a juvenile court errs in ordering a parent to pay for professional visitation monitoring without first considering the parent's ability to pay or reasonable alternatives when the parent raises a timely objection based on financial inability, under circumstances where the parent objects to professional monitoring costs at the exit order hearing.

The Rule of Joel Praneet Siam is that when determining whether a defendant's symptoms would respond to treatment under Penal Code section 1001.36(c)(1), a trial court may not override a qualified mental health expert's opinion with its own lay opinion about treatment responsiveness, under circumstances where a licensed psychologist provides an uncontroverted expert opinion that the defendant's mental disorder symptoms would respond to treatment.

The Rule of Santa Clara Valley Water District v. Eisenberg is that the claim and delivery law does not preclude a party from seeking preliminary injunctive relief to recover possession of personal property, under Code of Civil Procedure section 516.050, even after the party has already obtained a writ of possession and turnover order under the claim and delivery statutes.

The Rule of Gerard v. Cuevas is that a trial court cannot retroactively shorten a notice period under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987 to 91 minutes and then impose a terminating sanction when the defendant fails to appear, under circumstances where the original notice was untimely served and the court had not previously ordered shortened time.