Smiley's rulings trace limits of law from flagpoles to criminal courts

Arcata voters decided in 2022, by 270 votes, that the city should fly the Earth Flag -- the "Blue Marble" image photographed from Apollo 17 -- above every other flag on city flagpoles, including those of the United States and California.

The city went to court to learn whether it could comply. Justice Charles A. Smiley III of the 1st District Court of Appeal held it could not. State law requires the national flag to occupy the "position of first honor," and the Legislature "has left no room for noncompliance," he wrote.

A voter initiative faces the same restrictions as a city ordinance, Smiley held. He also rejected the backers' free speech argument because flags on city poles constitute government speech. City of Arcata v. Citizens in Support of Measure M (2025).

Appointed by Gov. Gavin Newsom to Division 1 in 2024 after 18 years on the Alameda County bench, Smiley faces voters Nov. 3 for the remaining four years of his predecessor's term.

Among his criminal opinions are rulings on jury instructions, sentencing and probation conditions.

In People v. Uceda (2026), Smiley upheld a murder conviction arising from a shooting near a Concord high school but reversed a conviction for a separate shooting that wounded a woman at a park.

Jurors should have been allowed to consider the lesser offense of grossly negligent discharge of a firearm, he held, because the evidence could support a finding that the shooter fired recklessly without aiming at anyone.

In People v. Llamas-Venegas (2025), Smiley upheld a sentence of 455 years to life for a man convicted of sexually abusing his stepdaughter for more than four years, beginning when she was 9, and sexually assaulting a cellmate.

He rejected arguments that the One Strike law permitted only one life term per victim and that the sentence was cruel or unusual, noting that no California court had invalidated a mandated sentence because it exceeded a human lifetime.

Another appeal concerned a San Francisco woman who pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty under an agreement barring her from keeping pets during two years of probation. The judge extended the prohibition to the rest of her life.

Smiley vacated the lifetime ban in People v. Lewis (2025), holding that state law authorized it only during probation. He gave the judge two options: limit the restriction to probation or allow the woman to withdraw her plea.

At his February 2025 appellate confirmation hearing, Smiley acknowledged the adjustment of leaving the trial court. "I'm used to and enjoy the commotion, the heavy calendars, the banter, the difficulty," he said. "Even the rough days are days of excitement."

As presiding judge of Alameda County's juvenile courts for three years, Smiley greeted families in the hallways before starting his calendar.

Superior Court Judge Colin Bowen recalled him welcoming "nervous and apprehensive families, showing them that this was their courthouse."

Smiley noticed that juveniles summoned to court sometimes missed free school meals. He began buying them food. Other judges joined in, and the effort became a county-supported program.

He became a court commissioner in 2007, was appointed a Superior Court judge by Gov. Jerry Brown in 2012 and later served as the court's presiding judge.

A UC Hastings College of the Law graduate, he spent a decade as an Alameda County deputy public defender. His father, Charles Smiley Jr., an Ohio criminal defense attorney, inspired his career choice.

His father's sudden death prompted Smiley to expand his community work. He participated in more than 70 schools and youth programs and co-founded the Alameda County Civic Learning Collaborative.

An amateur filmmaker and the trial court's unofficial historian, Smiley has produced short films and archives preserving the stories of Black legal pioneers.

Smiley expected to continue his community involvement despite leaving the trial court. "The core work itself might be different," he said at his confirmation, "but I will find other outlets to make sure that I'm contributing my voice, my sensibilities, and some of the goals I see for our branch."