On Monday morning, the Supreme Court will file opinions in People v. Canizales and People v. Mitchell, both argued on the April calendar. (Briefs here; oral argument videos here.)
The opinions will leave three April cases to be decided on two regular filing days by July 1 within the 90-day period.
Canizales will decide whether the jury was properly instructed on the “kill zone” theory of attempted murder. This is an old case. The court granted review in November 2014 and briefing was completed over three years ago. Could this be one of the cases that was stuck because of a 3-3 division of the permanent justices during the long time it took to fill the vacancy created by Justice Kathryn Werdegar’s retirement?
Mitchell is an automatic direct appeal from an October 2006 judgment of death.
The opinions can be viewed Monday starting at 10:00 a.m.