Judge: Mark H. Epstein, Case: SC128659, Date: 2023-05-15 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: SC128659    Hearing Date: May 15, 2023    Dept: R

The matter is here again for an FSC.  At the last hearing, the court deemed the matter not ready for trial due to a lack of joint filings.  That problem persists, but plaintiff Pomerantz states that defendant Buckley has failed to cooperate.  On Friday, Buckley submitted a declaration setting forth a litany of excuses why he could not be ready for trial, including computer glitches, long COVID, and a situation involving his fiancé and the Ukraine. 

The court is in receipt of the following materials filed May 10, 2023.  (1) Competing Joint Statements of the Case.  The court has reviewed them and believes that Pomerantz’s statement is more appropriate.  (2) Plaintiff’s Second Amended Exhibit List.  Plaintiff states that as of 6 pm the day of filing, Buckley had not cooperated in providing exhibits.  If that is true, then the court will accept the list.  Buckley will be precluded from introducing any exhibits at trial but may rely on any exhibits Pomerantz actually introduces.  The fact that it is on Pomerantz’s list is not sufficient for Buckley to introduce the exhibit.  However, the court will consider any particular exhibit that Buckley seeks to introduce and may reconsider this ruling on a document by document basis.  (3) Plaintiff’s Witness List.  Although captioned as “Joint,” there are no witnesses from Buckley nor is there any estimate as to Buckley’s expected cross examination times.  There are 9 witnesses for a total of 18.25 hours of direct testimony.  Buckley is precluded from calling any witness other than himself and Pomerantz.  He may cross-examine any witness Pomerantz calls but only within the scope of the direct examination.  (4) Plaintiff’s Jury Instructions.  Again, Buckley did not cooperate in the jury instruction task.  Buckley is therefore deemed to have agreed to all of the instructions and may not propose new ones.  That said, the court will decline to give the proposed special instruction and will give only the CACI instructions.  The court received Defendant’s Exhibit List on 5/11/23.  It has 150 exhibits and there is no indication that the exhibits were exchanged.

The court sees no deposition chart.  Therefore, neither party may introduce deposition testimony for any purpose other than impeachment.  The court sees no jury verdict form.  That must be filed by days’ end.  The court does not see any jury questionnaires and thus no jury questionnaire will be allowed.

The court is also in receipt of Buckley’s two motions in limine.  They are not timely and there is no meet and confer declaration.  They are therefore DENIED.

The court will discuss the actual trial with the parties.  There is another case that is pending and will take precedence.  This case may trail that one, but the court will not actually guarantee that it will be the next in line; it will depend on what other cases are ready for trial in the interim.  The court will accept no further final status conference materials beyond the jury verdict form.  The court understands Buckley’s argument that he simply is not ready for trial.  But filing a declaration on the court day before the FSC will not do, and the court has some significant doubts as to whether all of the information therein is true and correct.  There will be no further continuances nor will the court send the matter out for a Mandatory Settlement Conference.  These parties have shown no appetite in the past for anything like a settlement and the court believes it will be a waste of a judicial officer’s time to spend a day trying again.