Judge: Joel R Wohlfeil, Case: 37-2023-00024369-CU-PO-CTL, Date: 2024-01-26 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - January 24, 2024

01/26/2024  09:00:00 AM  C-73 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Joel R. Wohlfeil

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Civil - Unlimited  PI/PD/WD - Other Demurrer / Motion to Strike 37-2023-00024369-CU-PO-CTL QUEST VS DOE [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Demurrer, 12/14/2023

The special and general Demurrer (ROA # 73) of Plaintiff Alexander Quest ('Plaintiff') to the Answer by Defendants City of San Diego's and the San Diego Police Department's ('Defendants') to Plaintiff's First Amended Complaint ('FAC'), is OVERRULED.

This Demurrer does not demur to any specific affirmative defense or specifically address the general denial. As a result, it must be denied if the Answer sufficiently states a general denial and / or any single affirmative defense is proper.

Regarding the special Demurrer, the Answer is not fatally ambiguous or unintelligible. Code Civ. Proc.

430.20(b).

Regarding the general Demurrer, the Answer must contain '[t]he general or specific denial of the material allegations of the complaint controverted by the defendant .... [and] ¶ ... [a] statement of any new matter constituting a defense.' Such 'new matter' is also known as 'an affirmative defense.' Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases (2011) 201 Cal. App. 4th 758, 812.

A party who fails to plead affirmative defenses waives them. California Academy of Sciences v. County of Fresno (1987) 192 Cal. App. 3d 1436, 1442.

Affirmative defenses must not be pled as terse legal conclusions, but rather with as much detail as the facts which constitute the cause of action alleged in the complaint. Quantification Settlement Agreement Cases, supra at 812, 813.

However, an affirmative defense need only plead 'ultimate facts,' not evidentiary matters. See Edmon & Karnow, Cal. Prac. Guide: Civ. Pro. Before Trial (The Rutter Group 2022) at ¶¶ 6:123-6:124 and 6:459.

Although pleading conclusions of law is not sufficient, the distinction between conclusions of law and ultimate facts is not at all clear and involves at most a matter of degree. Doheny Park Terrace Homeowners Ass'n, Inc. v. Truck Ins. Exchange (2005) 132 Cal. App. 4th 1076, 1098, 1099.

What is important is that the pleading as a whole contain sufficient facts to apprise the adverse party of the basis upon which relief is sought. Id. In this case, the general denial is sufficiently alleged. Given the confusing nature and breadth of the Complaint, Defendant will be permitted latitude in the nature and scope of its affirmative defenses.

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3064844 CASE NUMBER: CASE TITLE:  QUEST VS DOE [IMAGED]  37-2023-00024369-CU-PO-CTL Many of the affirmative defenses sufficiently allege 'ultimate facts.' For example, the allegations that police officers 'acted in good faith and with a reasonable belief that their respective conduct was lawful and necessary' are ultimate facts supporting affirmative defense number 2.

Similarly, the allegation that 'police officers only used force necessary for the occasion' is an ultimate fact supporting affirmative defense number 5.

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