A summary adjudication is when some of the facts in a case are decided before the trial begins. This typically happens when the evidence is overwhelmingly obvious. However, the trial may proceed because other issues involved in the case still need to be evaluated by a judge or by a jury.
Summary adjudications are similar to summary judgments. However, with a summary judgment, the case never goes to trial. All of the facts are decided in advance, as opposed to just some of them.
An example of a summary adjudication would be if a surveillance video catches an assault taking place. So, the evidence of the assault may be decided before the case with a summary adjudication. However, the case may still proceed to trial to determine to what extent the defendant should be punished for the assault.