CA Pub. Decisions

In this case we conclude the rules of a large regional shopping mall that prohibit peaceful, consensual, spontaneous conversations between strangers in common areas of the mall about topics that are not related to the activities of the mall, its tenants or the noncommercial sponsored activities of the mall or its tenants are content-based rules that do not withstand a strict scrutiny analysis. The rules are unconstitutional on their face under article I, section 2 of the California Constitution, the California constitutional provision which guarantees the right to free speech. (Fashion Valley Mall, LLC v. National Labor Relations Bd. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 850 (Fashion Valley); Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center (1979) 23 Cal.3d 899 (Pruneyard), affirmed sub nom. Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) 447 U.S. 74 [64 L.Ed.2d 741].) As the trial court granted the motion for summary adjudication of defendants Westfield LLC, Westfield America, Inc., Urban Roseville LLC, and Roseville Shoppingtown, LLC (together Westfield) based on an erroneous finding that Westfield's rules were reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that were content neutral, we shall reverse the judgment in favor of defendants and direct the trial court to vacate its order granting summary adjudication and enter a new order denying Westfield's motion. We also conclude the trial court erred in striking plaintiff's prayer for attorney fees and direct the court to allow plaintiff to seek fees as may be appropriate at the conclusion of the case.

In this case we conclude the rules of a large regional shopping mall that prohibit peaceful, consensual, spontaneous conversations between strangers in common areas of the mall about topics that are not related to the activities of the mall, its tenants or the noncommercial sponsored activities of the mall or its tenants are content-based rules that do not withstand a strict scrutiny analysis. The rules are unconstitutional on their face under article I, section 2 of the California Constitution, the California constitutional provision which guarantees the right to free speech. (Fashion Valley Mall, LLC v. National Labor Relations Bd. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 850 (Fashion Valley); Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center (1979) 23 Cal.3d 899 (Pruneyard), affirmed sub nom. Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) 447 U.S. 74 [64 L.Ed.2d 741].) As the trial court granted the motion for summary adjudication of defendants Westfield LLC, Westfield America, Inc., Urban Roseville LLC, and Roseville Shoppingtown, LLC (together Westfield) based on an erroneous finding that Westfield's rules were reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that were content neutral, we shall reverse the judgment in favor of defendants and direct the trial court to vacate its order granting summary adjudication and enter a new order denying Westfield's motion. We also conclude the trial court erred in striking plaintiff's prayer for attorney fees and direct the court to allow plaintiff to seek fees as may be appropriate at the conclusion of the case.

In this case we conclude the rules of a large regional shopping mall that prohibit peaceful, consensual, spontaneous conversations between strangers in common areas of the mall about topics that are not related to the activities of the mall, its tenants or the noncommercial sponsored activities of the mall or its tenants are content-based rules that do not withstand a strict scrutiny analysis. The rules are unconstitutional on their face under article I, section 2 of the California Constitution, the California constitutional provision which guarantees the right to free speech. (Fashion Valley Mall, LLC v. National Labor Relations Bd. (2007) 42 Cal.4th 850 (Fashion Valley); Robins v. Pruneyard Shopping Center (1979) 23 Cal.3d 899 (Pruneyard), affirmed sub nom. Pruneyard Shopping Center v. Robins (1980) 447 U.S. 74 [64 L.Ed.2d 741].) As the trial court granted the motion for summary adjudication of defendants Westfield LLC, Westfield America, Inc., Urban Roseville LLC, and Roseville Shoppingtown, LLC (together Westfield) based on an erroneous finding that Westfield's rules were reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions that were content neutral, we shall reverse the judgment in favor of defendants and direct the trial court to vacate its order granting summary adjudication and enter a new order denying Westfield's motion. We also conclude the trial court erred in striking plaintiff's prayer for attorney fees and direct the court to allow plaintiff to seek fees as may be appropriate at the conclusion of the case.

In this driving under the influence case, the trial court ordered defendant Steve Douglas Jones to pay victim restitution in the sum of $4,468.40, but in doing so failed to make a clear statement of the calculation method it used to reach that figure. We conclude this failure amounted to an abuse of discretion and accordingly reverse the restitution order and remand the case for further proceedings on the issue of victim restitution. For guidance on remand, we address the application of proximate cause to an award of victim restitution.

Defendant Ahmanda Jones appeals from her conviction for shooting at an occupied vehicle. A jury convicted Jones of attempted voluntary manslaughter and of shooting at an occupied vehicle after an incident in which Jones shot at a man with whom she had a disagreement concerning payment for sexual services. During deliberations, the jury asked the court whether a person could be convicted of shooting at an occupied vehicle if her body was outside the vehicle, but her hand and/or the gun were inside the vehicle when she pulled the trigger. In response to the jury's question, the court instructed the jury that a person could be convicted of shooting at an occupied vehicle under those circumstances.
On appeal, Jones contends that the trial court erred in instructing the jury that it could convict her of shooting at an occupied vehicle if it believed that her hand and/or the gun were inside the vehicle when she shot into the vehicle. We reject this contention and conclude that the trial court correctly instructed the jury that a person standing outside a vehicle who, while holding a gun, reaches into the vehicle through an open window or door and fires the gun, may be convicted of shooting "at" an occupied vehicle. We therefore affirm the judgment of the trial court.

Defendant DCH Temecula Imports LLC (DCH) appeals the denial of its petition to compel arbitration. The trial court found that an arbitration clause in a retail installment sales contract (RISC) for the sale of a car to plaintiff Amberlee Fisher, which included a waiver of the right to bring a class action lawsuit or request classwide arbitration, was unenforceable.
Fisher presented several theories to the trial court in opposition to the enforcement of the arbitration clause, including that the arbitration clause required her to waive an unwaivable statutory right to bring a class action lawsuit under the California Legal Remedies Act (the CLRA) and that the arbitration agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable.
Court uphold the trial court's denial of the petition to compel arbitration.

Defendant DCH Temecula Imports LLC (DCH) appeals the denial of its petition to compel arbitration. The trial court found that an arbitration clause in a retail installment sales contract (RISC) for the sale of a car to plaintiff Amberlee Fisher, which included a waiver of the right to bring a class action lawsuit or request classwide arbitration, was unenforceable.
Fisher presented several theories to the trial court in opposition to the enforcement of the arbitration clause, including that the arbitration clause required her to waive an unwaivable statutory right to bring a class action lawsuit under the California Legal Remedies Act (the CLRA) and that the arbitration agreement was both procedurally and substantively unconscionable.
Court uphold the trial court's denial of the petition to compel arbitration.

A modification decision.

This case involves the disposition of approximately $2 million from the estate of James Donald Gardner, Jr. (â€

This case presents the issue of what constitutes a â€

This case presents the issue of what constitutes a â€

Petitioner Kern County Department of Human Services (department) petitions for a writ of mandate after respondent Kern County Superior Court (juvenile court) refused to find the department properly noticed a parent of a jurisdictional/dispositional hearing on juvenile dependency supplemental and subsequent petitions (Welf. & Inst. Code, §§ 387 & 342).[1] The juvenile court believed the department had to serve the dependent child's father, who was living in Mexico, with notice pursuant to the Hague Convention on the Service Abroad of Judicial and Extrajudicial Documents in Civil and Commercial Matters, November 15, 1965, 20 U.S.T. 361 (Hague Service Convention or Convention). The juvenile court also continued the hearing to October 2010 for compliance with the Convention.
Having reviewed the matter, we grant the department's petition. We conclude the Hague Service Convention does not apply to supplemental and subsequent juvenile dependency proceedings in light of the juvenile court's ongoing dependency jurisdiction and provided it has previously found proper notice to the parent. Alternatively, assuming arguendo the Convention could apply to supplemental and subsequent juvenile dependency proceedings, we conclude any duty to serve notice under the Convention was discharged in this case by the father's general appearance in the juvenile court after the department filed its subsequent and supplemental petitions.

A modification decision.

Defendant Franklin Lynch was convicted of the first degree murders of Pearl Larson, Adeline Figuerido, and Anna Constantin; the residential burglary of Larson, Figuerido, Constantin, Bessie Herrick, and Ruth Durham; and robbery of Figuerido, Constantin, Herrick, and Durham. (Pen. Code, §§ 187, subd. (a), 189, 211, 459.)[1] The jury also found true the special circumstance allegations of burglary murder and robbery murder as to all three murder victims, the multiple-murder special-circumstance allegation, and allegations that defendant personally inflicted great bodily injury on Herrick and Durham, who were persons 60 years of age or older. (§§ 190.2, subd. (a)(3), (17), former §§ 1203.075, 1203.09, subd. (a), 12022.7.) The jury returned a death verdict, and the trial court entered a judgment of death. This appeal is automatic. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 11, subd. (a); § 1239, subd. (b).) For the reasons that follow, Court affirm the judgment.