Bench & Bar: July 23

Stories in this week's episode:

Patchwork Resentencing
Michael J. Raphael, Associate Justice, California Court of Appeal
Imagine a law that granted resentencing only to defendants whose last names fell in the first half of the alphabet. Justice Michael J. Raphael argues that's effectively what California has done under Penal Code section 1172.75 -- bestowing sweeping sentencing benefits on some prisoners based on an unrelated technicality, while others are left out entirely.

How One Vowel Beat a $6.5 Million Judgment
Appellate specialist Timothy M. Kowal, founder of Kowal Law Group, dissects the ruling that erased a $6.5 million default judgment over a single missing vowel in a defendant's legally changed name -- and the strict rules of service by publication that made it happen.

10 Steps to Prepare a Witness for Deposition
He couldn't remember his own birthdate. After three days of mock depositions, a witness had been coached into blankness. Michael S. Kun opens with that cautionary tale in a ten-step guide to preparing witnesses who are neither under- nor over-rehearsed.