Judge: Curtis A. Kin, Case: 23STCP01229, Date: 2024-03-21 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 23STCP01229    Hearing Date: March 21, 2024    Dept: 82

VERIFIED PETITION FOR WRIT OF MANDATE

Date:               3/21/24 (1:30 PM)

Case:                           Gary Joseph Suggett v. Steve Gordon, Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California (23STCP01229)

TENTATIVE RULING:

Petitioner Gary Joseph Suggett’s Verified Petition for Writ of Mandate is CONTINUED to 4/16/24 at 1:30 PM in Department 82 (Stanley Mosk Courthouse).

No opposition brief has been filed by respondent Steve Gordon, Director of the Department of Motor Vehicles of the State of California. In the reply filed by petitioner Gary Joseph Suggett, petitioner addresses three arguments purportedly presented in respondent’s 18-page opposition. Accordingly, it appears that respondent served the opposition on petitioner but did not file the opposition with the Court.

In addition, the opening brief and reply contain citations to an administrative record. On August 10, 2023, the Court ordered petitioner to lodge the administrative record on the same day the reply brief was filed. Although the reply was filed on March 6, 2024, no administrative record has been filed, timely or otherwise.  The Court has received from respondent a courtesy copy of a document entitled “Director of Department of Motor Vehicle’s Notice of Lodging of Administrative Record, Including a Compact Disc,” but: (1) that notice of lodging was never filed; (2) no administrative record was lodged with the court as suggested in the title of that unfiled notice; and (3) the only material accompanying that unfiled notice was a compact disc containing a body camera video.

In the reply, petitioner states that he has filed a “certified audio transcript” of video evidence with the reply. (Reply at 2, fn. 1.) Although the Court received a courtesy copy from petitioner of a document entitled “Transcript of Body-Worn Camera Video,” no such document was filed as represented by petitioner in his Reply.

By no later than 3/22/24, respondent is ordered to file the opposition served on petitioner and to which petitioner responded.

By no later than 3/22/24, petitioner is ordered to file the certified audio transcript referenced in footnote 1 of the reply.

By no later than 3/22/24, petitioner is ordered to lodge the administrative record with the Court and simultaneously file a Notice of Lodging.  If the administrative record is in excess of 450 pages, by no later than 3/29/24, the parties shall prepare and lodge with the Court a Joint Appendix in accordance with the Courtroom Information for Department 82 found on the Court’s website.