Judge: Michael Small, Case: 22STCV01760, Date: 2025-03-25 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 22STCV01760    Hearing Date: March 25, 2025    Dept: 57

The Court is denying the motion of Cross-Defendants Anthony and Mattie Caruthers to dismiss the Cross-Complaint against them filed by Steve and Catherine Bell-Donovan.  The motion is untimely under Code of Civil Procedure Section 418(a)(3).   The Caruthers' motion is procedurally defective in an additional respect: specifically, the notice of motion does not lay out the grounds for dismissal and thus provides inadequate notice to the Donovans as to what the motion is about.  In any event, as a substantive matter, the motion fails because neither of the grounds set forth in the accompanying memorandum of points and authorities furnishes a basis for dismissal.  Both of those grounds -- that the Caruthers did not adjust their property line or partition the property and that the Caruthers are not indispensable parties to the action -- rest on arguments and evidence that are outside the four corners of the Donovans' cross-complaint and thus are inappropriate for a motion to dismiss.