4DCA Division 3 Oral Argument - 2026/03/18 - Mar 18, 2026

argument

4DCA Division 3 Oral Argument - 2026/03/18

California Fourth District Court of Appeal, Division Three 2h 11m 2 speakers 8 chapters transcribed 9 days ago official recording ↗

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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.

What procedural steps does the court take before hearing the first oral argument?

Courtroom Clerk 0:18

Good afternoon. Is Brad Estes present? Yes. All right. Thank you, sir. We have you scheduled for the third case. We also have you scheduled for five minutes. We just ask that you have your microphone muted until your time to speak.

Bradley Estes 0:32

Sounds good.

Courtroom Clerk 0:32

Thank you. Thank you.

Unknown 1:06

Is there an internet connection?

Courtroom Bailiff 1:12

No internet access while inside the courtroom, sir. Pardon me? I said no internet access while inside

Stephen Bailey 1:18

the courtroom. We need to go outside. Well, I don't want, I have my argument on this, but I guess I've got it as well as I need it. Okay.

Courtroom Bailiff 1:26

Yeah, we just ask that you're in an airplane while you're in here. If you want to go outside, take it off airplane mode and you have some way to connect to the internet.

Stephen Bailey 1:34

You go through Hotspot through your phone? No, I'm not interested in internet access, just access to my argument. Are you able to access it without

Unknown 1:43

internet? Yeah, it looks like it.

Stephen Bailey 1:44

It's on the computer. That's why I was in here, just to check it out, make sure that I wasn't going to have to go back to the old paper mode, which I also brought. Oh, okay. Well, you were prepared, at least.

Stephen Bailey 2:23

your chips.

Ryan Ellis 5:42

Why don't you just want to stay out of that area so we're not on camera all the time?

Flavio Nononato 5:51

Hi, good afternoon. Good afternoon. I'm here on the Samson matter on behalf of the Attorney General's office. My name is Flavio Nononato.

Flavio Nononato 6:15

Thank you very much. I'll just be outside. I'll come back before court

Unknown 6:20

starts.

Courtroom Bailiff 6:44

I heard you say kill counsel, but maybe he understood. We'll talk about some continuance.

Courtroom Clerk 13:04

afternoon. Do we have attorney Aaron Schechter present?

Aaron Schechter 13:46

Oh, hi. This is Aaron. Can you hear me?

Courtroom Clerk 13:52

Hi, good afternoon. Is this Aaron Schechter?

Aaron Schechter 13:56

Yes, it is. Can

Courtroom Clerk 13:57

you hear me now? Perfect, sir. We have you checked in here. We just ask that you have your microphone muted until your time to speak. We expect to begin in 15 more minutes.

Aaron Schechter 14:06

Okay. Are we the first case up then?

Courtroom Clerk 14:09

Yes, we do have you scheduled first.

Aaron Schechter 14:13

Okay, great. Thanks a lot.

Courtroom Clerk 14:28

done some research, then go ahead and mute yourself.

Courtroom Bailiff 16:16

Good afternoon. Welcome in. A few things before we get started at 1.30. We have the appellant side, the respondent side. When you come up to the podium, the podium is adjustable. There's a little switch right here that allows you to adjust it to your desired height. Feel free to do so. Whatever gets you closer to the microphone, the microphone is also adjustable. So do your best to speak into the microphone as the proceedings are being recorded, and it makes it easier for them to hear you. Water is provided at council table. However, if you find you are thirsty prior to coming up, there is a drinking fountain just outside the restroom, just outside the screening area. And if you brought water, feel free to go back to wherever that is and have a sip.

Courtroom Bailiff 16:58

Let's see. If you need to keep track of time, there's a little timer right there for your reference. All right, and again, we'll be getting started in about 10 minutes.

Courtroom Bailiff 29:21

Good

Justice Moore 29:28

afternoon everyone. I am Justice Moore and to my right is Justice Scott and to my left is Judge Bancroft. We have four matters on calendar this afternoon and we have two different panels, and each panel will preside over two matters. The first case this panel will preside over is the People versus Montiel.

Justice Moore 30:10

Mr. Schechter, I just want to make sure you're there.

Aaron Schechter 30:14

Yes, I am, Your Honor. I didn't know if you were ready for me.

Justice Moore 30:18

Yes, you may proceed whenever you are ready.

Aaron Schechter 30:22

May it please the court, Aaron Schechter for the appellant. As the court might know from the briefing, the primary dispute remaining after the AG's concession is whether it's a factual question or a legal question, whether Deputy Alamans, both pretty common in that culture, comment was referring to Hispanics or some other culture. And it's so obvious that this is a factual question. I really don't see how the AG can credibly claim that this was a legal determination, let alone a proper legal determination, uh, A determination of what Alleman meant by, quote, that culture, it just has nothing to do with application of any legal standards, legal principles. It's purely a factual matter of what somebody meant by a comment.