Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: 24STCV26984, Date: 2025-01-14 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV26984    Hearing Date: January 14, 2025    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for trial preference is GRANTED.

            On 10/15/2024, Plaintiff J.D.C., a minor individual, by and through her Guardian ad Litem Elizabeth Serrano (Plaintiff) filed suit against General Motors, LLC, Rotolo Chevrolet, Inc., and Pomona Auto Body Collision Center, Inc. (collectively, Defendants), alleging: (1) strict liability—manufacturing defect; (2) strict liability—design defect; (3) negligence; (4) negligence—failure to recall; (5) breach of implied warranty of merchantability; (6) violation of the Consumer Legal Remedies Act; (7) negligent repair; and (8) negligent repair.

            On 10/24/2024, Plaintiff moved for trial preference.

Legal Standard

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 36, subdivision (b) “A civil action to recover damages for wrongful death or personal injury shall be entitled to preference upon the motion of any party to the action who is under 14 years of age unless the court finds that the party does not have a substantial interest in the case as a whole.”

Subsection (e) further provides that, “[n]otwithstanding any other provision of law, the court may in its discretion grant a motion for preference that is supported by a showing that satisfies the court that the interests of justice will be served by granting this preference.” (Id., subd. (e).) If the court grants a motion for preference, it must set the case for trial within 120 days after the motion is granted. (Id., subd. (f).)

Factual Background

On May 4, 2024, Plaintiff J.D.C., a 13-year-old minor girl was in the front passenger seat of her family’s 2017 Chevrolet Malibu LS while her older brother, Jason David Carrillo, was driving. They were coming back from a family outing and returning to their home in Bloomington, CA. Unfortunately, Jason suddenly began to feel dizzy and lost consciousness before he could pull over. As a result, the vehicle drifted left into oncoming traffic and struck another vehicle head-on. The 2017 Chevrolet Malibu’s front passenger airbags deployed, however the front passenger side seatbelt pretensioner allegedly failed to fire and retract properly. As a result of the allegedly defective vehicle, J.D.C.’s upper body was not properly and safely kept in place, but thrusted forward into the airbag. J.D.C. suffered a Traumatic Brain Injury, an L2 Burst Fracture, a T12-L3 Posterior Spinal Fixation, as well as numerous bruises, abrasions, and lacerations to her face and body, as well as numerous other bodily injuries.

Discussion

            Plaintiff seeks trial preference on the grounds pursuant to CCP section 36(b).

After review, the Court finds that Plaintiff meets the criteria for trial preference afforded by this section. Namely, Plaintiff is under the age of 14, she is the sole Plaintiff in this action, and has a substantial interest in the litigation. There is no showing of poor health required for trial preference under CCP section 36(b).

Once a court determines that the three requirements for preference under CCP § 36(b) have been met by a moving party, the requirement to grant preference is mandatory. As the court noted in KochAsh v. Superior Court, “[w]e conclude that section 36 … is mandatory and absolute in its application and does not allow the trial court to exercise inherent or statutory general administrative authority.” (Koch-Ash v. Superior Court (1986) 180 Cal. App. 3d 689, 692.) This requirement was further reinforced in 2018 when the Court of Appeal held that “[w]here a party meets the requisite standard for calendar preference, preference must be granted. No weighing of interests is involved.” (Fox v. Superior Court (2018) 21 Cal. App. 5th 529, 535.)

Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for trial preference is granted.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  January    , 2025

   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 t

he 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.  For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517.