CA Pub. Decisions

The term "occurrence," as used in a commercial general liability policy as applied to bodily injuries caused by exposure to asbestos, means injurious exposure to asbestos, not the manufacture and distribution of those products, so trial court erred in determining that all asbestos injuries from exposure to insured's products arose from a single annual occurrence as a matter of law.

Good cause, attributed from one jointly charged codefendant to another pursuant to Penal Code Sec. 1050.1, does not permit the magistrate to set or continue the preliminary hearing for both defendants beyond the 60 days prescribed by Sec. 859b in the absence of a personal waiver of the 60-day rule by both defendants. Dismissal is the appropriate remedy for a violation of the right to a speedy preliminary hearing, even after the magistrate erroneously proceeds with the hearing and holds the defendant to answer.

Inclusion in search warrant affidavit of information that defendant was required to keep as a condition of holding federal firearms license, and of information from an inspection he was required to submit to, did not violate his privilege against self-incrimination. Federal law does not preempts Penal Code sections 12220, subdivision (a) and 12280, subdivision (b), which respectively proscribe possession of machine guns and certain assault weapons.

Where statute was declared unconstitutional by appellate court in another case while suit challenging it was pending, and there was no evidence that state defendants intended to enforce it in violation of the appellate ruling, pending action no longer presented a justiciable case or controversy, nor was there any basis for injunctive relief.

Where statute was declared unconstitutional by appellate court in another case while suit challenging it was pending, and there was no evidence that state defendants intended to enforce it in violation of the appellate ruling, pending action no longer presented a justiciable case or controversy, nor was there any basis for injunctive relief.

Police had no reasonable grounds to stop defendant's vehicle for having no license plates when the temporary operating permit was lawfully placed, valid on its face, and seen by the police officer. Conviction for resisting arrest must be reversed where arrest resulted from an unlawful stop.

Where juvenile court in dependency proceeding terminates reunification services and schedules a hearing to select a permanent plan for the child without providing notice to a tribe as required by Indian Child Welfare Act, court's orders must be vacated.

In awarding work-time behavioral credits/points that affected inmate's classification score and impacted on his custody level and privileges within the prison system, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was required to award points for three six-month periods for which inmate's work status classification was interrupted without his fault or for which his work status was reinstated because he had been exonerated of wrongdoing that had removed him from his work status. DOCR's contrary interpretation of the period considered continuous for reclassification annual review was unreasonable and unfairly applied.

In awarding work-time behavioral credits/points that affected inmate's classification score and impacted on his custody level and privileges within the prison system, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation was required to award points for three six-month periods for which inmate's work status classification was interrupted without his fault or for which his work status was reinstated because he had been exonerated of wrongdoing that had removed him from his work status. DOCR's contrary interpretation of the period considered continuous for reclassification annual review was unreasonable and unfairly applied.

Mandatory fee arbitration statute precludes an attorney from enforcing a pre-dispute agreement requiring a client to submit a fee dispute to binding arbitration.

Contracts to sell unsubdivided parcels of real property were void for violating Subdivision Map Act where they were entered into before seller recorded a parcel map, and they expressly permitted seller to waive the condition that a parcel map be recorded prior to the closing date. Where contracts provided that buyer's earnest money deposit for two parcels of land was nonrefundable, seller a year after entering into contracts recorded parcel map subdividing property into four smaller parcels including the two that buyer agreed to purchase, and buyer subsequently gave notice of termination before closing date on basis that late recordation prevented it from performing due diligence, court properly granted buyer's summary judgment motion on claim that it was entitled to return of earnest money because contracts were void. Buyer's act of objecting to certain proposed changes in contracts following seller's recordation of parcel map did not constitute ratification of the contracts.

A modification decision.

Trial court did not abuse discretion by admitting as spontaneous declarations six sets of statements by victim to police officers--two concerning charged offenses and four concerning prior bad acts by defendant, which were admitted under Evidence Code Sec. 1109 to show a past pattern of domestic abuse--where statements were made shortly after the events to which they pertained, even though defendant was no longer in the vicinity when the statements were made. Under doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing, defendant who murdered victim could not object on Confrontation Clause grounds to the admission of victim's testimonial hearsay statements about prior acts of domestic violence.

Trial court did not abuse discretion by admitting as spontaneous declarations six sets of statements by victim to police officers--two concerning charged offenses and four concerning prior bad acts by defendant, which were admitted under Evidence Code Sec. 1109 to show a past pattern of domestic abuse--where statements were made shortly after the events to which they pertained, even though defendant was no longer in the vicinity when the statements were made. Under doctrine of forfeiture by wrongdoing, defendant who murdered victim could not object on Confrontation Clause grounds to the admission of victim's testimonial hearsay statements about prior acts of domestic violence.