Judge: Lisa R. Jaskol, Case: 22STCV27249, Date: 2024-12-04 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22STCV27249 Hearing Date: December 4, 2024 Dept: 28
Having considered the documents submitted in support of the request for default judgment, the Court rules as follows.
BACKGROUND
On August 23, 2022, Plaintiffs Ki Sik Song, Hwa Ja Song, and Wan Ryung Song filed this action against Defendants Bok Sik Park (“Defendant”) and Does 1-10 for motor vehicle tort, general negligence, premises liability, and conspiracy. The complaint requested $100,000 in damages.
On December 12, 2022, Plaintiffs filed a proof of service showing service of the summons and complaint on Defendant by personal service on October 16, 2022.
On March 15, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a statement of damages listing $3,000 for pain, suffering, and inconvenience, $3,000 for emotional distress, $12,000 in past medical expenses, and $12,000 in property damage.
On June 6, 2023, Plaintiffs filed a proof of service showing personal service of the statement of damages on Defendant on June 4, 2023.
On January 13, 2024, the clerk entered Defendant’s default.
On May 7, 2024, the Court dismissed the Doe defendants without prejudice at Plaintiffs’ request.
On June 6, 2024, the Court granted the applications for default judgment filed on April 24, 2024 by Plaintiffs Hwa Ja Song and Wan Ryung Song. The Court denied Plaintiff Ki Sik Song’s application for default judgment without prejudice.
On June 28, 2024, Plaintiff Ki Sik Song filed a supplemental declaration.
On August 21, 2024, Plaintiff Ki Sik Song (“Plaintiff”) filed an application for default judgment.
PARTY’S REQUEST
Plaintiff asks the Court to enter a default judgment against Defendant and award Plaintiff $18,000.00, consisting of $17,840.00 as the demand
of the complaint and $160.00 in costs.
LEGAL STANDARD
A. Default judgment
California Rules of Court, rule
3.1800(a), provides:
“[With exceptions that do not apply here,] [a] party
seeking a default judgment on declarations must use mandatory Request for Entry
of Default (Application to Enter Default) (form CIV-100) . . . The following
must be included in the documents filed with the clerk:
“(1) Except in unlawful detainer cases, a brief summary of the case identifying the parties and the nature of plaintiff's claim;
“(2) Declarations or other admissible evidence in support of the judgment requested;
“(3) Interest computations as necessary;
“(4) A memorandum of costs and disbursements;
“(5) A declaration of nonmilitary status for each defendant against whom judgment is sought;
“(6) A proposed form of judgment;
“(8) Exhibits as necessary; and
“(9) A request for attorney fees if allowed by statute or by the agreement of the parties.”
(Cal. Rules of Court, rule 3.1800(a)(7).)
B. Damages
On a request for default judgment, “[w]here a cause of action is stated in the complaint, plaintiff merely needs to introduce evidence establishing a prima facie case for damages.” (L. Edmon & C. Karnow, Cal. Practice Guide: Civil Procedure Before Trial (Rutter 2023) ¶ 5:213.1, p. 5-56, citing Johnson v. Stanhiser (1999) 72 Cal.App.4th 357, 361 [trial court erred in applying preponderance of the evidence standard].)
The relief granted to a plaintiff upon entry of a defendant's default cannot exceed the amount demanded in the complaint or, for personal injury cases where damages may not be stated in the complaint, the amount listed in the statement of damages. (Code Civ. Proc., §§ 580, subd. (a), 585, subd. (b).) “The notice requirement of section 580 was designed to insure fundamental fairness.” (Becker v. S.P.V. Construction Co. (1980) 27 Cal.3d 489, 494.) The statute insures that “defendants in cases which involve a default judgment have adequate notice of the judgments that may be taken against them. [Citation.] ‘If a judgment other than that which is demanded is taken against him, [the defendant] has been deprived of his day in court—a right to a hearing on the matter adjudicated.’ ’’ (Id. at p. 493.) A trial court exceeds its jurisdiction if it awards damages in excess of the amount specified in the complaint or statement of damages. (Id. at p. 494.)
DISCUSSION
In the Court’s June 6, 2024 order, the Court observed that Plaintiff stated in his declaration that he incurred $12,000 to repair his car. Plaintiff provided photographs of his damaged car but he did not provide any receipts or damage estimates to support his statement that he incurred $12,000 to repair the car after the accident. The Court denied Plaintiff’s application for default judgment without prejudice and stated that Plaintiff could submit another application that contains evidence supporting his assertion that he incurred $12,000 to repair his car as a result of the accident which Defendant allegedly caused.
In Plaintiff’s supplemental declaration filed June 28, 2024, Plaintiff submitted copies of (1) an estimate dated 10/7/22 from Beverly Auto Body Shop listing charges of $4,598.40, with a red “Paid” stamp and the handwritten date 10/18/22, (2) a receipt from “Apache Auto [unclear]” for $7,000 for what appears to be electric power steering parts and labor, dated either July or September 24, 2023, and (3) a receipt from “[unclear] [unclear]” for $263.00 for labor and parts dated 05/01/2024.
Plaintiff’s supplemental declaration states that the Beverly Auto Body Shop document shows that “the expense of body works of the car was $4,598.40.” Plaintiff states that the two receipts show that “the expense of repairing internal parts of the car was $7,236 [sic].” Plaintiff also requests $165.60 in damages to compensate him for the time he spent “to visit the body shop and repairing mechanic and purchase car parts, etc.”
According to Plaintiff, the accident occurred on February 28, 2022. Plaintiff does not explain why his car underwent repairs as late as May 2024 for damage caused by the 2022 accident.
Nonetheless, the Court finds that Plaintiff’s supplemental declaration and attached exhibits together constitute prima facie evidence that Plaintiff incurred $11,861.40 to repair his car as a result of Defendant’s negligence. The Court declines, however, to award Plaintiff $165.60 in damages based on the time he spent arranging for the vehicle repairs.
Adding $11,861.40 for car repairs to the amounts addressed in the Court’s June 6, 2024 order ($3,840 in medical expenses, $2,000 for pain, suffering, and emotional distress, and $160 in costs) brings Plaintiff’s damages to $17,861.40. The Court grants Plaintiff’s application for default judgment and awards this amount to Plaintiff.
CONCLUSION
The Court GRANTS Plaintiff Ki Sik Song’s application for default judgment against Defendant Bok Sik Park and awards Plaintiff Ki Sik Song $17,861.40.
Plaintiff is ordered to give notice of this ruling.