Judge: Ronald F. Frank, Case: 22TRCV00105, Date: 2023-02-03 Tentative Ruling
Case Number: 22TRCV00105 Hearing Date: February 3, 2023 Dept: 8
Tentative Ruling
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HEARING DATE: February 3, 2023¿
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CASE NUMBER: 22TRCV00105
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CASE NAME: Merchants Financial Guardian,
Inc. v. Michael Roquemore, etc.
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MOVING PARTY: Plaintiff, Merchants Financial Guardian, Inc.
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RESPONDING PARTY: None.
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TRIAL DATE: August
28, 2023
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MOTION:¿ (1) Motion to Compel Responses to Form and
Special Interrogatories
(2) Motion to Compel Responses to Requests for Production
of Documents
(3)
Motion to Deem Matters Specified in Requests for Admission as Admitted
(4) Requests for monetary sanctions in each of the
motions
Tentative Rulings: (1) Motion to Compel Responses to
Form and Special Interrogatories without objection is GRANTED
(2) Motion to Compel Responses to Requests for Production
of Documents without objection is GRANTED
(3)
Motion to Compel Responses to Requests for Admission is DENIED, but the lesser sanction
of ordering Defendant to admit, deny, or specify inability to admit or deny without
objection is Granted instead
(4)
Monetary sanctions of $400 per the RFP and Rog motions are GRANTED as against
both Defendant and his counsel, for a total of $800, payable within 30 days
I. BACKGROUND¿
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A.
Factual¿
This
motion to compel seeks further responses to discovery requests propounded by
Plaintiff, Merchants Financial Guardian, Inc. (“Plaintiff”) to Defendant,
Michael Roquemore, dba Dr. Michael Wayne Roquemore (“Defendant”). Plaintiff
asserts that discovery was propounded on August 10, 2022. Plaintiff further
asserts that Defendant’s responses to the discovery were initially due on
September 13, 2022, but Defendant failed to respond. Plaintiff states that on
September 21, 2022, Plaintiff’s counsel e-mailed a “meet and confer” letter to
Defendant’s attorney, granting Defendant additional time to respond to said
requests. However, Plaintiff still asserts that responses have not been
produced.
As
such, Plaintiff has filed these motions to compel responses.
B. Procedural
On December 13, 2022, Plaintiff
filed these motions to compel discovery responses with requests for monetary sanctions
in each. No opposition has been filed.
¿III. ANALYSIS ¿
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A.
Motion to Compel Responses
A party must respond to
interrogatories within 30 days after service. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.260,
subd. (a).) If a party to whom interrogatories are directed does not provide
timely responses, the requesting party may move for an order compelling
responses to the discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (b).) The party
also waives the right to make any objections, including one based on privilege
or work-product protection. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290, subd. (a).) There is
no time limit for a motion to compel responses to interrogatories other than
the cut-off on hearing discovery motions 15 days before trial. (Code Civ.
Proc., § 2024.020, subd. (a); Code Civ. Proc., 2030.290.) No meet and confer
efforts are required before filing a motion to compel responses to the
discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., § 2030.290; Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting, Inc.
v. Pacific Healthcare Consultants (2007)
148 Cal.App.4th 390, 411.)¿ ¿Similar rules and deadlines apply to demands for
production of documents and requests for admission.¿
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Code of Civil Procedure section
2023.030, subdivision (a) provides, in pertinent part, that the court may
impose a monetary sanction on a party engaging in the misuse of the discovery
process to pay the reasonable expenses, including attorney’s fees, incurred by
anyone as a result of that conduct. ¿Similar rules apply to demands
for production of documents and requests for admission. A misuse of the discovery process includes failing to
respond or submit to an authorized method of discovery. (Code Civ. Proc., §
2023.010, subd. (d).)¿¿¿
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Here, it does not appear that Defendant has filed any
response to the three sets of motions that are the subjects of the motion
hearing on February 3, 2023. As to the form
and 10 special interrogatories, Plaintiff’s motion is GRANTED. Verified written
answers to each of the interrogatories, without objections, must be served by
Defendant on or before March 1, 2023. As
to the document demand motion, the Court grants the motion and orders Defendant
to serve a verified written response as to each of the 4 categories of documents
requested, without objection, by March 1, 2023, and by that same date to
produce the responsive documents to Plaintiff’s counsel.
As to the Request for Admission motion, the Court grants a
remedy but not the one requested at this first motion stage. The document attached to the motion for
deemed admission contains 6 separately labeled “special interrogatory” numbers,
not “requests to admit.” The caption of
the discovery request is labeled “Requests for Admission,” the single sentence preamble
before the 5 discovery requests states that the responding party is requested
to admit each of the following facts, and the centered caption just above the 5
requests properly labels them as “Requests for Admission.” Accordingly, the
totality of the circumstances makes it clear what is intended and that the 6 labels
contain mis-described discovery items. The Court thus imposes the lesser sanction of
entering an Order compelling Defendant to serve a verified written response on
or before March 1, 2023, that either admits, denies, or states an inability of
admit or deny as to each of the 5 discovery items which the Court deems to
re-label as “Request to Admit” rather than “Special Interrogatory.” The written response may not contain any objection
because the right to object was waived as a matter of law.
B.
Monetary Sanctions
Plaintiff requests
sanction in the amount of $1,100 for the form and special interrogatories;
$1,100 for the Requests for Production; and $1,100 for the Request for
Admission. The sanctions include two hours of billing at $350/hour and a $60
filing fee. The Court awards $400 per each
of the interrogatory and document demand motions for a total of $800, payable by
Defendant and/or by counsel Mr. Trutanich within 30 days.
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