Judge: Malcolm Mackey, Case: 21STCV39486, Date: 2023-03-06 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 21STCV39486 Hearing Date: March 6, 2023 Dept: 55
LEWIS
v. UPCHURCH 21STCV39486
Hearing Date: 3/6/23,
Dept. 55
#3: MOTION TO COMPEL FURTHER RESPONSES TO FORM
INTERROGATORIES AND REQUEST FOR SANCTIONS IN THE AMOUNT OF $6,930.
Notice: Okay
No
Opposition
MP:
Defendants
RP:
Summary
On 10/26/21, Plaintiff TONY LEWIS filed a Complaint
against defendants, JASON E. UPCHURCH, personal representative of the Estate of
DARLENE J. UPCHURCH-FRIEDMAN and JEFFERSON LA BREA D&J PROPERTIES, LLC, alleging
that this is an action for Declaratory Relief, Breach of Contract and related
claims, arising out of a written one-page partnership agreement entered into in
2011, between Plaintiff and the decedent DARLENE UPCHURCH-FRIEDMAN, providing
Plaintiff with a 30% ownership interest in specified real property.
On 8/18/22, Defendant JEFFERSON LA BREA D&J
PROPERTIES, LLC filed a notice of bankruptcy stay.
MP
Positions
Moving parties request an order compelling Plaintiff’s
further responses to form interrogatories, and awarding $6,930.00 as sanctions,
on grounds including the following:
·
Lewis served conclusory, evasive, and
incomplete responses to Form Interrogatories Nos. 9.1, 9.2, 12.6, 17.1, and
50.2.
·
Lewis has made little effort to provide
basic information about when alleged investments occurred or the amount of
each. Lewis has not provided any facts
about the acts he took to manage the LLC and the property, including what acts
Lewis took and when. Lewis has not provided any facts about the “rental income”
he allegedly received, including how much, when, and from whom. Lewis has not
provided any facts about the thousands of dollars that he allegedly provided to
the LLC and the property, including how much money he provided, when he provided
this money, and for what purpose. Lewis’s
response provides no identifying information about any of the documents that purportedly
support his denials of the requests for admission. Lewis has not stated the
dates, titles, authors, recipients, or bates numbers of any of the
documents. Lewis does not describe any
of the five alleged breaches and does not give the date of any of the five
alleged breaches.
·
Meeting and conferring was not fruitful. Lewis never served supplemental responses as
promised.
·
The Bankruptcy stay does not extend to
Lewis’s claims against Defendant, or the cross-claims against Lewis.
Tentative
Ruling
The unopposed motion is granted, as prayed.
The failure to file a proper and timely opposition in
trial court creates a waiver of the issues on any appeal. Bell v. Am. Title Ins. Co. (1991) 226
Cal. App. 3d 1589, 1602; Cabrini
Villas Homeowners Assn. v. Haghverdian (2003) 111 Cal. App. 4th 683, 693. A judge in a civil case is not
"'obligated to seek out theories [a party] might have advanced, or to
articulate … that which … [a party] has left unspoken.'" Mesecher v.