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Appeals of amended judgments

Tao v. Superior Court of California

Updated Nov 12, 2026

In brief

Where it stands
Petition Pending

Awaiting an order on the petition

No decision timeline until the Court agrees to hear the case.

What it’s about
Liying Tao argues that a California amended judgment added a ruling that the tenant could keep possession and contract-based attorney-fee liability after a nuisance-only jury trial, though the jury did not decide disputed rent or contract issues.
What's at stake
The petition asks whether Tao can obtain review of a revised judgment that she says imposes substantial financial liability without a meaningful appeal.

Summary: written with AI from the case record.

What it's about

She says an appeal from that judgment was dismissed as duplicative and asks the Supreme Court whether this denied due process.

Tao says the jury was asked only to decide a nuisance claim and made no findings about rent payment or contract issues later reflected in the amended judgment.

Question presented

1. Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment permits a State to enforce a separate amended judgment imposing substantial financial liability when a notice of appeal directed to that amended judgment was dismissed as duplicative of an earlier appeal from a different judgment, and later requests for review were denied by reference to that dismissal, leaving the amended judgment without meaningful appellate review. 2. Whether the Due Process Clause permits a state court, through an amended judgment entered after a jury trial expressly limited to nuisance, to add a substantive determination that a tenant “ shall retain possession ” and to impose substantial contract-based attorney-fee liability, where an earlier filed order recognized a triable factual dispute concerning nonpayment of rent and allegedly false rent receipts, the jury made no findings on rent payment, receipt authenticity, waiver, contractual assent, or continuing possession, and the amended judgment thereafter received no meaningful independent appellate review. 3. Whether due process is satisfied when a substantial amended monetary judgment arising from a limited civil action is repeatedly confined to an appellate path that does not provide independent review of that amended judgment, while requests for transfer or review in the California Court of Appeal are denied and enforcement continues.

What happens next

The Court must decide whether to hear the petition. Oral argument is not scheduled and is not the next step unless the Court agrees to hear the case.

Documents

1

Docket activity

5
  • New analysis added

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • AI analysis generated: Case Briefing

    Nov 12, 2026 · Generated

  • Case data updated: summary, question_presented, generation_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • Case data updated: question_presented, extraction_metadata

    Nov 12, 2026 · Court records

  • Brief added: Petition

    Jul 18, 2026 · Court records

Sources

Primary materials plus reporting. Best-effort analysis: this explainer relies on a mix of primary materials and trusted secondary sources. Official filings and opinions remain authoritative.

Checked Nov 12, 2026Methodology

Court records and filings

Reporting and analysis