Judge: Jon R. Takasugi, Case: BC683153, Date: 2023-03-21 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: BC683153    Hearing Date: March 21, 2023    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is DENIED.

On November 13, 2017, Plaintiff Winnetka Vaden (Plaintiff) initiated this action against Joseph Collins (Collins) and Punch TV Studios, Inc. (Punch). On August 21, 2019, Plaintiff filed a second amended complaint (SAC) for breach of contract.

Now, Plaintiff moves for summary judgment of her SAC.

Discussion 

            As a preliminary matter, Plaintiff’s motion does not contain a separate statement and thus must be denied. (See CRC rule 3.1350, subdivision (c)(2).)

            However, Plaintiff’s motion is also substantively lacking. The only evidence submitted in support of her claims is a declaration claiming that “Defendants did enter into a production contract to produce and provide the staff and equipment to produce the show, and to pay back a loan received from Plaintiff at the sum totall [sic] of $140,000 with now a balance of $90,000 which is the now reason for this instant.” (Vaden Decl.) Plaintiff’s motion is not accompanied by any additional supporting evidence. As such, this single unsupported claim, without any evidence of an underlying contract or loan is insufficient to shift the burden of proof to Defendants.

            Based on the foregoing, Plaintiff’s motion for summary judgment is denied.

It is so ordered.

Dated:  March    , 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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