Department 30, Spring Street Courthouse

August 2, 2022

21STCV38628

Motion to Deem RFAs Served on Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez Deemed Admitted and Request for Sanctions (unopposed)

The motion is granted.  The RFAs are deemed admitted as to Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez.

Sanctions in the amount of $460 are imposed jointly and severally on Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez and Plaintiff’s attorney of record.  Sanctions are due within 20 days after the date of this order.

Moving party is ordered to provide notice and to file proof of service of such notice within five court days after the date of this order.  

On October 20, 2021, Plaintiffs Froylan Ramirez, Brenda Ramirez, and John Perez  filed a Complaint against Defendant Miguel Felix and Does 1-50, inclusive alleging a cause of action for negligence arising out of a motor vehicle collision that occurred on November 2, 2020.   

On May 24, 2022, Defendant Miguel A. Felix filed a Motion to Deem Request for Admissions Admitted against Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez. 

Trial is set for April 19, 2023. 

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.280, subdivision (b), a “party may move for an order that the genuineness of any documents and the truth of any matters specified in the requests be deemed admitted, as well as for a monetary sanction under Chapter 7 (commencing with section 2023.010).” The court “shall” grant the motion to deem requests for admission admitted “unless it finds that the party to whom the requests for admission have been directed has served, before the hearing on the motion, a proposed response to the requests for admission that is in substantial compliance with Section 2033.220.” (Code Civ. Proc., § 2033.280, subd. (c).)

Sanctions may be imposed for misuse of discovery process. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.030, subd. (a). ) Failing to respond or to submit to an authorized method of discovery constitutes a misuse of the discovery process. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2023.010, subd. (d).) 

Defendant Miguel A. Felix moves to deem Request for Admissions admitted.

Defendant demonstrates that Defendant served the Request for Admissions on December 21, 2022. (Declaration of Robert J. Dwyer ¶ 2.) Plaintiff failed to provide responses within the time permitted by law. (Dwyer Decl. ¶ 3.) Plaintiff requested an extension to March 29, 2022, and Defendant granted it. (Id. ¶ 6.) To date, Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez has failed to respond to the discovery requests. (Id. ¶ 8.)

Defendant’s unopposed motion is granted.  

Defendant also requests monetary sanctions against Plaintiff Brenda Ramirez and Plaintiff’s attorney of record in the amount of $860.00 for four hours of attorney time at the rate of $200.00 per hour, plus a $60.00 filing fee for this instant motion. (Dwyer Decl. ¶ 9.) The Court finds $460.00 based on 2 hours of attorney time plus a filing fee to be reasonable for the motion as the motion is simple and unopposed.