CA Unpub Decisions

Larry Dixon appeals from the judgment entered after a jury convicted him of one count of selling cocaine. Dixon contends the judgment should be reversed because he wore jailhouse clothes throughout the trial, and because the trial court would not allow evidence of a statement exonerating him that he claimed was written by his co-defendant. Coutrt affirm, holding that Dixon waived the jailhouse clothing issue by failing to object, and that the trial court did not err by excluding the supposedly exonerating statement.

Defendant Dimika Hill was convicted by a jury of voluntary manslaughter (count one) and child abuse (counts three and four), violations of Penal Code sections 192, subdivision (a), and 273a, subdivision (a), respectively. As to counts three and four, Hill was alleged to have personally inflicted great bodily injury on the victim within the meaning of Penal Code section 12022.7, subdivision (d), but the jury found the allegations not true. Hill was sentenced to serve a prison term of 11 years on count one plus a consecutive one year four months on count four. On count three she was sentenced to a concurrent term of four years. appeal, Hill contends insufficient evidence supports her conviction on count three. Court agree and reverse her conviction as to that count.

Plaintiff/Appellant Yana Henriks was involved in three different automobile accidents in a little less than 18 monthsMay 2004, July 2004, and September 2005. Appellant filed one complaint against the parties involved in the May 2004 and July 2004 accidents. She sued Pedro Gonzalez (Gonzalez), who is not a party to this appeal, in connection with the May accident, and she sued Defendants/Respondents Blake Kobashigawa (Kobashigawa), who was driving the car involved in the July accident, and his father, Don Kobashigawa, the owner of the car (collectively Respondents

A jury convicted Rodzinksi Allen of second degree murder, with several firearm findings, and the trial court found that Allen had a prior conviction which qualified as both a strike and a prior serious felony, and that he had a prior conviction with a prison term, and sentenced Allen to an aggregate term of 61-years-to-life. We reject Allens claims on appeal that his murder conviction is not supported by substantial evidence, and that it is tainted by error attendant with the jurys verdict.

Defendant and appellant Oscar Flores appeals from the judgment entered following a jury trial that resulted in his conviction for possession of methamphetamine for sale. Sentence was suspended and Flores was placed on probation for a period of three years. Flores contends: (1) the trial court erred by denying his pretrial suppression motion; and (2) the evidence was insufficient to support the verdict. Court affirm.

Nadjatollah Enayati (Nad) appeals from a judgment denying his petition to invalidate the revocable living trust of his deceased wife, Sorraya Faridian (Sorraya), on the ground of undue influence of their son, Alaeddin Enayati (Al). Court affirm the judgment.

Plaintiff Kenneth Faulkner appeals from the trial courts denial of his petition for a writ of mandate after respondent Victim Compensation and Government Claims Board (the Board) rejected his claim for compensation for his allegedly erroneous conviction and imprisonment. Plaintiff contends that respondents failed to carry their burden of proof and the Board misstated the charges against him and ignored evidence supporting his claim of innocence. Court affirm.

Defendant PacSun, LLC, appeals from the judgment entered following a trial by referee that determined plaintiff Pardee Homes, Inc., was entitled to certain fee credits from its eventual dedication of land for a fire station as part of Pardees residential development in Santa Clarita. Court agree with the referee that the contract unambiguously transferred the right to those fee credits to Pardee when it bought the land from PacSun. Court also alternatively hold that parol evidence was properly introduced to explain the contract terms, and that the parol evidence, along with the contractual language, supported the judgment and the referees underlying determination.

Defendant, Marcel Onate, appeals following his nolo contendere plea, from his conviction for marijuana possession. (Health & Saf. Code, 11357, subd. (a).) Defendant argues the trial court improperly denied his Penal Code section 1538.5, subdivision (i) evidence suppression motion. court modify the order granting probation in minor respects but otherwise affirm.

Defendant Danny Tietjen punched his neighbor, fracturing the victims facial bones. Charged with two violent felonies (Pen. Code, 243, subd. (d), 245, subd. (a)(1), 12022.7, subd. (a)), defendant pled no contest to battery with infliction of serious bodily injury, as a misdemeanor. (Pen. Code, 243, subd. (d).) Consistent with the plea agreement, he was placed on probation with conditions which include that he serve 180 days in jail and stay away from the victim.

Stacey Franco appeals from an adverse judgment in a probate court proceeding involving the estate of her father, Robert Franco. She contends the probate court erred in determining that her claim for conversion was barred by the statute of limitations and that her creditors claim against the estate was not supported by substantial evidence.Court shall affirm the judgment

In this appeal of a summary judgment granted to plaintiffs in an action concerning disputes over real property between local churches and a national church (Presbyterian Church U.S.A. or PCUSA), we hold the plaintiffs (local churches) summary judgment motions failed to establish as a matter of law that their amendment of their own articles of incorporation effectively revoked a trust created in the national churchs constitution, and the local churches fail to establish on appeal that no trust was validly createdPCUSAs regional . administrative bodies defendant Presbytery of Sacramento (Presbytery) and intervener Synod of the Pacific (Synod) appeal from summary judgment entered in favor of the local churches, plaintiffs First Presbyterian Church of Roseville (Roseville) and Fair Oaks Presbyterian Church (Fair Oaks). The trial court held that, if the local churches held their real property in trust for the national church, such trusts were revoked by the local churches amendment of their articles of incorporation. Court shall conclude reversal is compelled by (1) Corporations Code section 9142, which requires that the trust be revoked in the same manner in which it was created, and (2) a California Supreme Court decision (Episcopal Church Cases (2009) 45 Cal.4th 467) which issued after the trial courts ruling in this case

L.C., the mother of minors La.M. and Daj.C., appeals from an order terminating her parental rights.[1] (Welf. & Inst. Code, 366.26; all further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise indicated.) She contends that proper notice was not given under the Indian Child Welfare Act of 1978 (25 U.S.C. 1901 et seq.) (ICWA), and that the beneficial parent-child relationship and sibling relationship exceptions to adoption apply. Court reject her second contention, but vacate the order terminating parental rights and remand the matter to the juvenile court for further proceedings under ICWA.

Karen Frost appeals from an order modifying the spousal support obligation of her former husband, Thomas Frost,[1] and terminating the court's jurisdiction "on the first to occur of either party's death, [Karen's] remarriage, or January 1, 2011." She contends the family court erred as a matter of law by (1) terminating its jurisdiction to order spousal support; (2) concluding that she had the ability to become self-supporting; (3) stepping down support from $6000 a month to zero; and (4) finding that a spouse should become self-supporting within one half the length of the marriage without clarifying that the rule is assertedly inapplicable to long term marriages like theirs. Court affirm the order.