Judge: Lee S. Arian, Case: 21STCV26067, Date: 2025-01-13 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 21STCV26067    Hearing Date: January 13, 2025    Dept: 27

SUPERIOR COURT OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FOR THE COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES - CENTRAL DISTRICT

Legal Standard

Contempt is any act, in or out of court, “which tends to impede, embarrass or obstruct the court in the discharge of its duties.”¿ (In re Shortridge (1893) 99 Cal. 526, 532.) Civil Contempt procedures are set forth in Code of Civ. Proc. §§1209 through 1222. Section 1209 provides that certain acts or omissions are contempts of the authority of the court. Specifically, subsection (a)(5) states that any “disobedience of any lawful judgment, order, or process of the court.” Under these rules, a proceeding for adjudication of constructive contempt is customarily initiated by the issuance of an Order to Show Cause. (In re Rose (1949) 90 Cal. App. 2d 299, 304.) The proceeding is also initiated by the filing of an affidavit or declaration, stating the facts constituting the alleged contempt, in order to confer jurisdiction upon the court to exercise its contempt powers over the accused. (In re Liu (1969) 273 Cal. App. 2d 135, 140-41.)  Since a contempt proceeding is quasi-criminal in nature, the accused person is entitled to due process, or the procedural safeguards available to a person accused of a criminal charge, including the right to know the exact nature of the charge against him/her so that he/she can prepare and present his/her defense. (Id., at 141.) The accused must be shown, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he/she had the ability to comply with the subject court order; the burden of proof on this issue lies with the party seeking to have the accused held in contempt. (Id., at 141-42.) 

Discussion

On July 15, 2021, Plaintiff filed this motor vehicle accident case. On July 11, 2024, Defendant filed and served Motions to Compel Plaintiff's Responses to Form Interrogatories and Requests for Production of Documents, Set Three. On August 13, 2024, the Court heard the motions and ordered Plaintiff to provide responses to the discovery at issue and pay monetary sanctions in the amount of $2,000 by September 12, 2024.

Although Plaintiff timely served her discovery responses, both she and her counsel have failed to pay the court-ordered sanctions. On September 24, 2024, Defendant sent correspondence to Plaintiff requesting payment of the court-ordered sanctions, to which Plaintiff never responded.

As a result, on October 22, 2024, Defendant filed and served a Motion regarding the unpaid sanctions. On November 18, 2024, the parties reached a settlement agreement, which was communicated to the Court, resulting in all pending hearing dates being vacated. As part of this agreement, Defendant agreed to waive the unpaid sanctions. However, Plaintiff subsequently retracted from the settlement agreement and filed an ex parte petition to reinstate the trial date, which the Court granted. Consequently, the previously ordered sanctions remain due and payable to Defendant. As of the filing of this Motion on December 10, 2024, Defendant has not received the court-ordered sanctions and moves the Court for contempt proceedings. No opposition has been filed.

CCP Section 1209(a)(5) provides that disobedience of any lawful judgment, order, or process of the Court constitutes contempt of the Court's authority. On August 13, 2024, the Court issued a lawful order requiring Plaintiff to pay monetary sanctions to Defendant by September 12, 2024. Plaintiff has failed to comply with the Court's order and has not paid the ordered sanctions to Defendant as of this date. Therefore, Defendant’s request for issuance of an Order to Show Cause regarding contempt is GRANTED. (In re Rose (1949) 90 Cal.App.2d 299, 304.) The Court hereby sets an Order to Show Cause Re: Contempt for ______.

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the Court at SSCDEPT27@lacourt.org indicating intention to submit on the tentative as directed by the instructions provided on the court’s website at www.lacourt.org.  Please be advised that if you submit on the tentative and elect not to appear at the hearing, the opposing party may nevertheless appear at the hearing and argue the matter.  Unless you receive a submission from all other parties in the matter, you should assume that others might appear at the hearing to argue.  If the Court does not receive emails from the parties indicating submission on this tentative ruling and there are no appearances at the hearing, the Court may, at its discretion, adopt the tentative as the final order or place the motion off calendar.