Excerpt: ...d Parties”). The demurrer is opposed by cross‐complainant Cherokee Simeon Venture I, LLC (“CSV”). The requests for judicial notice are granted. The demurrer is overruled. The Cherokee Fund Parties shall file an answer on or before March 16, 2018. The Court finds that the two causes of action stated against the Cherokee Fund Parties are not barred by res judicata. (See, Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. v. Weinberg (2014) 227 Cal.App.4th 1, 7.) Also,...

Excerpt: ... interest supporting the request and the substantial probability of prejudice without the sealing, and 2. A substantial probability that the interest will be prejudiced without the sealing. Moreover, Defendant has failed to show that less restrictive means would be ineffective. ...

Excerpt: ...alleges that Defendant has a Maintenance, Operations and Transportation Department, which is overseen by an assistant superintendent, and that this department is located in San Ramon while Defendant's headquarters are in located in Danville. (FAC ¶8.) In addition, the department has four divisions, including one for transportation, and each division is headed by a director. (FAC ¶8.) The transportation division has 70 school buses, 15 vans, and...

Excerpt: ...and fair dealing, and (7) promissory estoppel against Defendants. CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 09 HEARING DATE: 02/28/18 ‐ 6 ‐ The Demurrer is sustained, with leave to amend. Code of Civil Procedure (“CCP”) § 411.35 requires a party bringing a complaint arising out of professional negligence against an engineer to file and serve a certificate of merit on or before the date the complaint or cross‐complain...

Excerpt: ...extent that the motion may be treated as a motion to reconsider under Code of Civil Procedure section 1008, it is untimely. 2. TIME: 9:00 CASE#: MSC16‐01293 CASE NAME: SCHORNO VS. GANN‐DESIMONE HEARING ON MOTION FOR REQUESTING CHANGE OF CCC JUDGE, VENUE OR DISMISSAL / FILED BY NANCY S. GANN‐DESIMONE * TENTATIVE RULING: * Defendant's motion Requesting Change of CCC Judge, or Change of Venue, or Dismissal of Case” is denied. To the extent t...

Excerpt: ...c Redacted Version”. A great deal of it – whole pages at a time – is simply blacked out. Moreover, from what can be read in the moving papers, it appears that Jacobs bases his motion principally on the declaration of his expert, Dr. Bickler. But the Bickler declaration has not been filed at all – not even in a “public redacted version”. It just plain isn't there. It's not in the court file, and there is no indication in the computer t...

Excerpt: ...e had not carried its burden on the element of causation sufficient to warrant a grant of summary judgment. The Court's prior tentative ruling focused on the fact that both the pedestrian and the driver had stated that there were no obstructions to their views. At argument, however, plaintiff persuasively pointed out that the evidence on which the Court relied concerned visibility to the crosswalk itself, but did not address the issue of whether ...

Excerpt: ...m, for documents relating to two other identified potential buyers of the property, and the reasons why those sales did not go through. Plaintiffs reason that there may be relevant information in the documents concerning knowledge or disclosure of the alleged problems with the property. Plaintiffs acknowledge that they did not serve any Notice to Consumer on the putative buyers under Code of Civil Procedure § 1985.3. They state conclusorily that...

Excerpt: ...nal service was required. (Id., subd. (d).) Plaintiff attempted to serve defendant with a statement of damages on October 2, 2017. (Dudensing Dec., Exh. “F”.) However, this attempted service was made at a Green Street address in San Francisco, and defendant alleges that he has at all pertinent times resided at a Taraval Street address. (Byrd Dec., ¶ 1.) Further, plaintiff took defendant's default only three days later, on October 5, 2017, an...

Excerpt: ... the trial court must determine whether the parties entered into a valid and binding settlement of all or part of the case. In making this determination, trial judges, in the sound exercise of their discretion, may receive oral testimony or may determine the motion upon declarations alone. Corkland v. Boscoe (1984) 156 Cal.App.3d 989. A court's power to make factual determinations under Code of Civil Procedure § 664.6 (entry of judgment pursuant...

Excerpt: ... March 24, 2015, plaintiff Veronica Wang was a pedestrian crossing the bottom of the Highway 24 cloverleaf offramp in a marked crosswalk. (The moving papers identify it as the exit from eastbound 24, but cursory examination shows it to be the exit from from westbound 24. The detail is not material.) She was struck and injured by defendant Yvonne Pope‐Lane, who was a driver exiting Highway 24 onto northbound Pleasant Hill Road. As relevant here,...

Excerpt: ...fendants' request for judicial notice is granted in part. The Court takes judicial notice of Exhibits “B” through “F”, documents on file in this action. The Court does not take judicial notice of Exhibit “A”, because the subject building permit is not dispositive of any cause of action. 1st and 2nd C/As (Fraud). The motion is granted without leave to amend as to the First and Second Causes of Action for fraud and deceit. Plaintiffs ha...

Excerpt: ...Lincoln Prop. Co., N.C., Inc. v. Travelers Indem. Co. (2006) 137 Cal.App.4th 905, 916. Further, “it is an abuse of discretion to deny leave to amend where the opposing party was not misled or prejudiced by the amendment.” Kittredge Sports Co. v. Super. Ct. (1989) 213 Cal.App.3d 1045, 1048. The opposition argues that the proposed first amended cross‐complaint (“1ACC”) is a sham pleading. It generally avers that this is so because the 1AC...

Excerpt: ...ued discovery subpoenas that intrude into the protected private sphere of Plaintiff and her children. Specifically, the Motion seeks to quash subpoenas issued by Defendants on the Employment Development Department (“EDD”), the financial aid departments of UC Berkeley and CSU San Diego, Covered California, and California's Department of Health Care Services. For reasons explained below, the Motion is granted. Legal Standard Code of Civil Proce...

Excerpt: ...motion to dissolve the preliminary injunction, once defendants have made a general appearance. Defendants were served with process, and with the moving papers, through corporate agents for service on January 9 and 10, 2018. This gave defendants only four days more than the bare minimum of 16 court days' notice. As a practical matter, defendants have likely not had adequate time to retain counsel and prepare timely opposition papers. Second, the C...

Excerpt: ... Ins. Co. (2004) 116 Cal.App.4th 968, 994. For purposes of a demurrer, all properly pleaded facts are admitted as true. Aubry v. Tri‐City Hospital Dist. (1992) 2 Cal.4th 962, 967. “If the complaint states a cause of action under any theory, regardless of the title under which the factual basis for relief is stated, that aspect of the complaint is good against a demurrer.” (Quelimane Co. v. Stewart Title Guaranty Co. (1998) 19 Cal.4th 26, 38...

Excerpt: ...y relief and the second cause of action to set aside the default judgment due to extrinsic fraud is granted. This court has previously examined the issue of the propriety of substitute service on Plaintiff in the early stages of this case, on demurrer. The court was restrained by the demurrer rules, which compelled this court to accept all allegations in the complaint as true. See Blank v. Kirwan (1985) 39 Cal.3d 311, 318. The complaint alleged t...

Excerpt: ...n affirmative defense in the Answer to the Complaint. The issue of whether there is an entitlement to precondemnation damages is an issue to be determined by the court before the jury determines the issue of compensation. Therefore, the appropriate procedure is to bifurcate the trial. (City of Ripon v. Sweetin (2002) 100 Cal.App.4th 887, 897‐898; see also City of Perris v. Stamper (2016) 1 Cal.5th 576, 594.) If the parties accept this ruling, t...

Excerpt: ..., responses were due on 12/22/17 and less than a week later, the Motion was filed. Responses with objection were served on 1/3/18, and without objection on 1/18/18, followed by verifications on 1/25/18. Discovery disputes where further responses are requested are required by Local Rule 3.300 to be submitted to a Discovery Facilitator. Rather than require Defendants to comply with that Local Rule, file another motion, and participate in the Discov...

Excerpt: ...ge that “Cross‐Defendants['] breaches of fiduciary duty were done with malice, fraud or oppression toward the TRUST entitling the TRUST to an award of punitive damages according to proof at trial.” The motion to strike is denied. Punitive damages may only be awarded “where it is proven by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant has been guilty of oppression, fraud, or malice.” (Civ. Code § 3294(a).) As elaborated on below, the...

Excerpt: ...riate. (See, SB Liberty, LLC v. Isla Verde Assn., Inc. (2013) 217 Cal.App.4th 272, 280.) The Court finds defendants' detailed opposition declaration substantially more persuasive than plaintiffs' conclusory opening declaration. Further, plaintiffs' own opening declaration demonstrates that (1) plaintiffs came into default on their loan, and (2) plaintiffs' application for a loan modification was considered and denied. (Sioson Dec., ¶ 5 and ¶¶ ...

Excerpt: ... sanctions, it was improper and frivolous. (Defendant had previously sought reconsideration of one of the sanction awards, which was denied.) Moreover, although the ostensible basis of the motion to release lien was that the property was not owned by Defendant, but by Star Wars Revocable Living Trust, no evidence was submitted showing that the trust actually owns the property. Finally, if a sale of the property was recorded before the abstract of...

Excerpt: ...ty was valued at $2.8 million, that the property was to be an investment property, sold quickly, that Longmire would not reside there, and that Longmire's income was $21,000 per month or more. (Complaint ¶ 10.) These misrepresentations allegedly induced Plaintiff to loan Longmire and Roesner $1.85 million. (¶ 13.) The loan went into default, and Plaintiff acquired the property at a nonjudicial foreclosure sale. (¶ 15.) Plaintiff seeks damages ...

Excerpt: ...; (3) negligent failure to fulfill promise; (4) fraud; (5) negligent CONTRA COSTA SUPERIOR COURT MARTINEZ, CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT: 39 HEARING DATE: 02/05/18 ‐ 10 ‐ misrepresentation in loan modification; (6) violation of Bus. & Prof. Code § 17200 et seq.; (7) quiet title; (8) declaratory relief; and (9) injunctive relief. Defendant demurs pursuant to Code Civ. Proc. § 430.10(e) through (g) on several grounds. The Court notes that many of the...

Excerpt: ...dismissal of co‐defendant Special Default Services, Inc., which has filed a declaration of non‐monetary status. A. Procedural Problems. 1. The Moving Papers. There are several procedural problems with the moving papers filed on November 13, 2017. These include the following. First, defendant Trinity refers to evidence that has not been supplied to the Court. The separate statement refers to a “Declaration of Johnelle Gomez,” and various e...