The People v. Aguilera CA5

DISCUSSION

As a general rule, an appellate court only decides actual controversies. It is not the function of the appellate court to render opinions upon moot questions or abstract propositions, or declare principles or rules of law which cannot affect the matter in issue in the case before it. A case becomes moot when a court ruling can have no practical effect or cannot provide the parties with effective relief. (Eye Dog Foundation v. State Board of Guide Dogs for the Blind (1967) 67 Cal.2d 536, 541.) Thus, an action that originally was based on a justiciable controversy cannot be maintained on appeal if all the questions have become moot by subsequent acts or events. A reversal in such a case would be without practical effect, and the appeal will therefore be dismissed. (People v. DeLong (2002) 101 Cal.App.4th 482, 486; In re Dani R. (2001) 89 Cal.App.4th 402, 404.) People v. Lindsey (1971) 20 Cal.App.3d 742 (Lindsey) supports a mootness determination here. In that case, the superior court determined after a hearing that a criminal defendant was insane and ordered him committed to a state hospital. The

1 All further statutory citations are to the Penal Code unless…