Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 18STCV08065, Date: 2023-02-28 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 18STCV08065    Hearing Date: February 28, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion is DENIED, WITHOUT PREJUDICE.

            On 12/12/2018, Plaintiff Mohammad Sirajullah MD (Plaintiff) filed suit against Saif Kutubi aka Saifuddin Kutubi, Quazi Moshhooorul, Shafi Ahmed aka Shafi Uddin Ahmed, and Shaiekh Rafiqul Islam, alleging: (1) defamation; and (2) intentional infliction of emotional distress.

            On 6/27/2022, Plaintiff filed an acknowledgement of satisfaction of judgment.

            Now, Plaintiff moves to vacate satisfaction of judgment.

Discussion

            Plaintiff moves to vacate his 6/27/2022 acknowledgment of satisfaction of judgment on the grounds that it was a clerical error and only a partial acknowledgement of satisfaction of judgment should have been filed as to Defendant Saif Kutubi.

            Plaintiff filed this motion on 2/1/2023—nearly 8 months after the acknowledgement was filed. As such, Plaintiff’s motion does not qualify for relief under CCP section 473, subdivision (b) which provides that an application for relief “shall not be granted…in no case exceeding six months….” Plaintiff, despite citing section 473(b), does not address the timeliness issue here. As such, Plaintiff has not identified any exception to the six-month deadline set forth by section 473(b), nor has he offered any other basis for affording the relief sought.[1]

            While a trial court may offer equitable relief past the six-month mark, Plaintiff has not set forth any argument to show it meets the stringent conditions required for such relief. (See Rappleyea v. Campbell (1994) 8 Cal.4^th 975.)

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion is denied, without prejudice.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  February    , 2023

   Hon. Jon R. Takasugi
   Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative.  If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order.  If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar. 

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