After not conferencing last week while it made its way through the big March calendar, the Supreme Court yesterday did what it does most Wednesdays — it denied scores of petitions for review or for habeas corpus, issued a few grant-and-hold orders in criminal cases (five this week), it granted review and transferred in a few other criminal cases, and it cleaned out a dozen grant-and-hold cases, either dismissing review or transferring matters back to the Court of Appeal in light of opinions in the lead cases.
Other conference actions include:
- As mentioned, the court granted a Ninth Circuit request to answer questions about California insurance and usury law.
- Justice Goodwin Liu recorded a vote in favor of granting a pro per’s habeas corpus petition that the court denied.
- The Supreme Court transferred to the superior court — presumably under Prop. 66 — a 15-year-old death penalty habeas petition in which the Supreme Court 10 years ago issued an order to show cause on six issues, including a false evidence issue and whether the petitioner is mentally retarded. The court denied all other claims in the petition.