Civil Procedure
A judgment on stipulation is appealable pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure §904.1 if the judgment entered is different from the terms of the parties' stipulated settlement; a postjudgment order denying relief is also appealable pursuant to §904.1(a)(2). The parties entered into a valid and binding settlement where all material terms of their agreement were recited on the record and the parties agreed to be bound, but the trial court erred when it ultimately entered a judgment that was different from the terms of the parties' stipulated settlement agreement; this was a judicial mistake, not a clerical mistake, and it is properly rectified via a §663 motion.
Machado v. Myers - filed Aug. 16, 2019, publication ordered Sept. 10, 2019, Fourth District, Div. One
Cite as 2019 S.O.S. 2481
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Conservatorships
The statutory time limit for commencement of a jury trial following a proposed conservatee’s demand is not mandatory, and failure to commence trial within statutory confines is not grounds for earlier expiration of the conservatorship.
M.M. had a diagnosis of schizophrenia and psychotic disorders, and was unwilling to accept psychiatric treatment and voluntary psychotropic medications. The Public Guardian initiated LPS conservatorship proceedings. The court appointed the Public Guardian as the temporary conservator, pending determination of the underlying conservatorship petition. On August 16, 2018, M.M. demanded a jury trial. The LPS Act provides for trial no later than 25 days after the demand. As a result of M.M.’s counsel’s schedule, his requested continuance, M.M.’s request for a court-appointed expert to evaluate M.M., and the judge’s unavailability, M.M.’s trial commenced 61 days after his jury demand.
Cite as B293676
Filed August 29, 2019
California Court of Appeal, Second District
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Real Property
A property owner granted a utility company multiple floating easements outside the area defined by the metes-and-bounds footage descriptions in the recorded conveyances where the conveyances stated that the utility would have free access for the purposes of exercising the rights it was being granted, and the owner allowed the utility to drive over the property to access its electrical facilities for years; the floating easements became fixed easements once the utility and the property owner agreed upon the access routes.
Southern California Edison Company v. Severns - filed Sept. 10, 2019, Second District, Div. Six
Cite as 2019 S.O.S. 2502
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The California Coastal Commission did not abuse its discretion by imposing a special condition on a development that required a home to be set back a certain distance from the edge of a bluff to account for potential landslide conditions, erosion and other factors that might affect stability; a requirement that a homeowner waive the right to build a seawall was not an unconstitutional government taking; a condition requiring removal of the home from the parcel if any government agency orders that it not be occupied due to a natural hazard was overbroad and unreasonable since it would still require removal if the danger could be remedied or were only temporary in nature.
Lindstrom v. California Coastal Commission - filed Sept. 19, 2019, Fourth District, Div. One
Cite as 2019 S.O.S. 2679
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