The instant appeal involves the common scenario of a failure to appear by a person cited for a traffic violation.  As a result of the failure to appear, a warrant is issued pursuant to Vehicle Code section 40515[1], and a new charge of failure to appear, in violation of Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (a)[2], is appended to the underlying traffic charge.  (See People v. Superior Court (1968) 262 Cal.App.2d 283, 285.)  In this case we hold that because Vehicle Code section 40508, subdivision (a), is a misdemeanor and not an infraction, the traffic defendant is entitled to a jury trial on the failure to appear charge, and the failure to advise the defendant of the right to a jury trial and obtain a waiver thereof constitutes reversible error.

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  In September 1999, Sports Illustrated and an HBO television program, Real Sports, used the 1997 team photograph of a Little League team to illustrate stories about adult coaches who sexually molest youths playing team sports.  Plaintiffs, all of whom appear in the photograph, were formerly players or coaches on the Little League team.  The team’s manager, Norman Watson, pleaded guilty to molesting five children he had coached in Little League.  Plaintiffs have sued defendants and appellants, hereafter referred to as “Time Warner” or the media defendants, for invasion of privacy and infliction of emotional distress.

            Time Warner brought a motion to strike plaintiffs’ complaint pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16, the so-called anti-SLAPP statute.  SLAPP is the acronym for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”[1]  The trial court denied the SLAPP motion, ruling that plaintiffs had a reasonable probability of succeeding on their claims, particularly that for public disclosure of a private fact. Time Warner now appeals.  We affirm, holding that plaintiffs have demonstrated a prima facie case for invasion of privacy.

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