Judge: Curtis A. Kin, Case: 24STCV14904, Date: 2024-09-05 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV14904    Hearing Date: September 5, 2024    Dept: 86

APPLICATION FOR RIGHT TO ATTACH ORDER

Date:               9/5/24 (1:30 PM)

Case:                           Red Chamber Co. v. Real Good Foods, LLC (24STCV14904)

TENTATIVE RULING:

Plaintiff Red Chamber Co.’s application for right to attach order with respect to defendant Real Good Foods, LLC is DENIED.

Defendant objects to the agreement and invoices attached to plaintiff’s supporting declaration as inadmissible hearsay. The Court agrees. Plaintiff attempts to have the invoices admitted under the business records exception set forth in Evidence Code § 1271. Business records are admissible despite the hearsay rule “when offered to prove [an] act, condition, or event if: [¶] (a) The writing was made in the regular course of a business; [¶] (b) The writing was made at or near the time of the act, condition, or event; [¶] (c) The custodian or other qualified witness testifies to its identity and the mode of its preparation; and [¶] (d) The sources of information and method and time of preparation were such as to indicate its trustworthiness.” (Evid. Code § 1271.) Plaintiff’s custodian of records testifies that the invoices were prepared “in the ordinary and regular course of business at or near the time of the acts” reflected in the invoices. (Kou Decl. ¶ 4.) The purported records custodian does not testify to the mode of the invoices’ preparation so the Court can evaluate where the method and time of preparation indicate the invoices’ trustworthiness. Instead, the custodian of records states that “if called upon,” the custodian “could competently testify as to their identity and mode of preparation.” (Kou Decl. ¶ 3.) This is insufficient to establish the business records exception under Evidence Code § 1271.

Consequently, plaintiff does not establish the existence of an outstanding debt owed by defendant. Plaintiff has thus not established the probable validity of its claims, as required under CCP § 484.090(a)(2).