A selected summary of Southern California-related business litigation developments during the past week.

Appeal Rebuffed in Satellite Case: A federal appeals court in San Francisco affirmed a judge’s finding that the government lawfully prosecuted Rockwell International for overcharging on a satellite navigational system. The aerospace giant was fined $5.5 million after it pleaded guilty in Los Angeles in 1989 to defrauding the government on the $1.2-billion Navstar global positioning system. Rockwell nonetheless sought a dismissal of the indictment, contending that the prosecution was spawned by the company’s own admissions of overpricing. But a U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals panel found that a government audit had already discovered that the Air Force was overcharged by $446,000 on the system before Rockwell made voluntary disclosures in the case. In the 1988 indictment, prosecutors said Rockwell obtained reimbursements from a subcontractor for unexpected repair costs on the system but nevertheless billed the Air Force for the same costs in 1983. Rockwell had no immediate response to the ruling. (Case No. 88- 0048. Ruling Jan. 31)