December, 2003
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CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
People v. Modiri
S120238 (h023584) 112 Cal.App.4th 123
Petition for review after reversal of judgment. Question presented: Did a finding of personal use of a deadly weapon on an uncharged incident violate a defendant's Fifth and Sixth Amendment rights to fair notice and due process? 12/23/03

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
People v. American Contractors Indemnity Company
S120474 (E031426) 112 Cal.App.4th 613
Petition for review after affirmance of judgment. Question presented: Was a bail bond surety collaterally estopped from asserting an intentionally-delayed collateral attack challenging the trial court's premature, and thus voidable, entry of summary judgment on a forfeited bail bond? 12/23/03

BANKING BUSINESS AND CONTRACTS
American Financial Services Association v. City of Oakland
S119869 (A100258) 111 Cal.App.4th 1453
Petition for review after affirmance in part and reversal in part of judgment. Question presented: Does state law preempt local ordinances regulating the field of sub-prime home mortgage lending? 12/23/03

OTHER
HLC Properties Limited v. Superior Court (MCA Records, Inc.)People v. Salazar
S120332 (B167458) 112 Cal.App.4th 305
Petition for review after grant of petition for writ of mandate. Question presented: Did the legal successor to a deceased individual's ongoing personal business organization retain the attorney-client privilege belonging to that organization? 12/23/03

REAL ESTATE
Coalition of Concerned Communities, Inc. v. City of Los Angeles (Catellus Residential Group)
S119897 (B149092) 111 Cal.App.4th 8215
Petition for review after affirmance of judgment. Question presented: For purposes of the Mello Act requirement that a developer provide affordable housing when a new housing development is constructed within the coastal zone, does the term "housing development" refer only to the actual housing component of a project, or does the Mello Act apply if some aspects of the project are in the coastal zone but all the actual housing is to be constructed outside the coastal zone? 12/17/03

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
People v. Ault
C119948 (D040184) 111 Cal.App.4th 1411
Petition for review after affirmance of judgment. Question presented: Did a foreperson in a child molestation case committ prejudicial misconduct by discussing the case outside the jury room and then telling her fellow jurors a story about an unrelated molestation victim? 12/10/03

CRIMINAL LAW AND PROCEDURE
People v. Athar
S119975 (D037485) 112 Cal.App.4th 73
Petition for review after affirmance of judgment. Question presented: Can a money laundering enhancement (Penal Code §186.10(c)) properly be imposed following a conviction for conspiracy to commit money laundering, where the defendant was not convicted of the substantive offense of money laundering? 12/10/03

TORTS
Avila v. Citrus Community College District
S119575 (B158572) 111 Cal.App.4th 811
Petition for review after reversal of judgment. Question presented: Is the statutory "hazardous recreational activity" immunity, Government Code §831.7, applicable to a personal injury that arose during the course of an intercollegiate sporting event? 12/10/03

TORTS
Morris v. De La Torre
S119750 (D040278) 111 Cal.App.4th 1047
Petition for review after reversal of judgment. Question presented: Where customers and friends of customers were attacked in a restaurant parking lot, did the restaurant employees have an affirmative duty to take reasonable steps to summon aid for the victims? Was the restaurant liable for the criminal conduct in the absence of prior similar incidents of such conduct? 12/10/03