This is an opinion about accrual dates for RICO violations, but what’s somewhat (very marginally) strange about it is that it seems like Judge Mendoza is deliberately writing the opinion to be extremely accessible to the general public.Check it
Professor Shaun Martin
Professor Shaun Martin is an academic and legal commentator who publishes detailed analyses of recent court opinions, primarily focusing on appellate decisions in California and federal courts. His writings explore complex legal issues such as family law disputes involving reproductive technology, contempt proceedings, antitrust litigation, firearms law, neighbor disputes, and tax-related challenges. He provides critical insights into judicial reasoning, statutory interpretation, and procedural nuances, often highlighting contrasting judicial approaches and the implications of legal rulings. His content is aimed at legal professionals and scholars interested in contemporary case law developments and their broader legal context.
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Simerley v. Golden Gate Bridge & Highway Trans. Dist. (Cal. Ct. App. – August 11, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
Maritime law. You know it. You love it. That’s what today’s Court of Appeal opinion is all about.Loss of consortium claims aren’t available under the Jones Act. So the wife of an injured seaman — he worked on a…
Family Violence Appellate Project v. Superior Court (Cal. Supreme Ct. – Aug. 10, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
I have no problem with today’s opinion by the California Supreme Court, which holds that indigent litigants are entitled to have their hearings officially recorded on tape — notwithstanding a statute that expressly precludes it — if they can’t…
U.S. v. Doyle (9th Cir. – Aug. 8, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
This opinion is strangely sanitized.
Patrick Edward Doyle hooks up with a minor on a dating app — she allegedly showed him a fake i.d. that showed that she was an adult — and has explicit pictures of their
…
Gorobets v. Jaguar Land Rover North America (Cal. Supreme Ct. – Aug. 6, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
I like this opinion, and it has practical significance for many California litigators.The California Supreme Court unanimously holds that a party can validly make a Section 998 offer to compromise that contains multiple alternatives. The Court of Appeal held…
A Company Hungary KFT v. Bespalov (Cal. Ct. App. – Aug. 4, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
I, like many (but not all) lawyers, sometimes write intemperate things in draft briefs. You get caught up in the emotion of what you’re arguing sometimes and it spills out onto the ink.
But on the second, or third, or
…
Los Angeles County ERA v. County of LA (Cal. Supreme Court – Aug. 3, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
This is an unusual 4-3 split opinion by the California Supreme Court. Unlike the United States Supreme Court, you don’t routinely see such sharply split opinions from that tribunal.Plus, given the underlying topic, it’s an unusually sharp dissent. Still generally…
Thompson v. Superior Court (Cal. Ct. App. – July 30, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
The defendant here is charged with felony burglary and receives mental health diversion for alleged PTSD despite having 19 different felony convictions (for theft, fraud, forgery, assault with a deadly weapon, etc.) during the past dozen years.To tell you the…
People v. McAllister (Cal. Ct. App. – July 30, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
What you know from reading this opinion is that Russell McAllister was sentenced to 75 years in prison for first-degree murder of another inmate at High Desert State Prison, plus another 12 years for carrying the shank. So, essentially, the…
People v. Kazarian (Cal. Ct. App. – July 30, 2026)
By Shaun Martin
Sometimes courts get too aggressive in finding an error to be harmless.Not here.”On a late January evening in 2023, around 1:20 a.m., San Bernardino County
Deputy Sheriff Gabriel Dominguez responded to a medical aid call at a gas…