That's the title of an article in today's DJ by retired Justice Cruz Reynoso and appellate lawyer Stephen Greenberg (a cofounder of
CalAppErrors.com -- an online compendium of appellate error). Here's the set up:
There's an age-old philosophical question, "If a tree falls in a forest
and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?" It's time to pose
an analogous - and much more practical - query: If a California Court of Appeal
opinion presents no "important question of law" but arguably relies
on a material factual or legal error, or an unbriefed issue, does it make a
difference?
The authors propose a new subdivision for CRC 8.500, one that basically says, "if the Court of Appeal opinion was materially erroneous in some
way, the Supreme Court may send the case back for reconsideration - and must do
so, if the decision violated Government Code Section 68081."
Posts
