Opinions Authored

From July 1, 2013, to June 30, 2014 - with Justice Joyce L. Kennard absent during the final three months - the California Supreme Court decided 89 cases, matching the previous year's output with a balanced caseload of 32 civil cases, 26 death penalty cases, 28 non-death criminal cases, and three State Bar matters. All of the death penalty cases were affirmed, and all but two of those decisions were unanimous. Most of the non-death criminal rulings were also unanimous, with one 43 split and three solo dissents (two from Kennard and one from Justice Marvin R. Baxter). In the civil cases, the Court split 43 three times, 52 five times, and 61 twice. Thus, the overall dissent rate for the year was a paltry 4.5 percent, falling between the record low of 2.3 percent set during the first year of the Cantil-Sakauye Court and 6.1 percent achieved last year.

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