Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 19STCV39062, Date: 2024-10-04 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 19STCV39062    Hearing Date: October 4, 2024    Dept: 27

Hon. Lee S. Arian, Dept 27 

MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS 

Hearing Date: 10/4/24¿ 

CASE NO./NAME: 19STCV39062 M. LYNNE MARTA vs GLORIA FILM PRODUCTIONS, LLC, et al.

Moving Party: Defendants

Responding Party: Unopposed

Notice: Sufficient¿ 

Ruling: MOTION FOR JUDGMENT ON THE PLEADINGS IS DENIED

On October 31, 2019, Plaintiff M. Lynne Marta filed the present slip and fall case. Defendant alleges that on January 11, 2024, Plaintiff M. Lynne Marta passed away, and no one has since substituted in on behalf of the now-deceased Plaintiff. Defendant moves the Court to dismiss the case. The evidence of Plaintiff’s death comes in the form of an IMDb website entry and a newspaper article reporting Plaintiff’s alleged death.

Under Cal. Evid. Code § 452(h), judicial notice is limited to "facts and propositions that are not reasonably subject to dispute and are capable of immediate and accurate determination by resort to sources of reasonably indisputable accuracy."

An IMDb page does not generally meet the standard for judicial notice under § 452(h) because IMDb is a user-edited platform, and its content may not be entirely accurate or reliable. Similarly, courts have declined to take judicial notice of the contents of newspaper articles, as they are often based on hearsay and are not sources of indisputable accuracy. (Linda Vista Village San Diego Homeowners Assn. v. Tecolote Investors, LLC (2015) 234 Cal.App.4th 166, 186 [appellate court declining to take judicial notice of newspaper articles].) Courts typically take judicial notice of more authoritative and verifiable sources, such as official records (e.g., death certificates, government publications, or public records).

Furthermore, Defendant failed to provide any evidence that the person mentioned in the IMDb page or newspaper article is, in fact, the same individual as Plaintiff in the present case. Plaintiff in the present case is named M. Lynne Marta, while the news article relates to an individual named Lynne Marta, without the "M." in front. There is insufficient evidence linking Plaintiff to the individual in the news article or the IMDB webpage.

Thus, the motion is DENIED.

PLEASE TAKE NOTICE:

If a party intends to submit on this tentative ruling, the party must send an email to the court at sscdept27@lacourt.org with the Subject line “SUBMIT” followed by the case number.  The body of the email must include the hearing date and time, counsel’s contact information, and the identity of the party submitting.

Unless all parties submit by email to this tentative ruling, the parties should arrange to appear remotely (encouraged) or in person for oral argument.  You should assume that others may appear at the hearing to argue.

If the parties neither submit nor appear at hearing, the Court may take the motion off calendar or adopt the tentative ruling as the order of the Court.  After the Court has issued a tentative ruling, the Court may prohibit the withdrawal of the subject motion without leave.