Judge: Ronald F. Frazier, Case: 37-2020-00017840-CU-OR-CTL, Date: 2023-08-11 Tentative Ruling

SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA,

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HALL OF JUSTICE

TENTATIVE RULINGS - August 10, 2023

08/11/2023  08:30:00 AM  C-65 COUNTY OF SAN DIEGO

JUDICIAL OFFICER:Ronald F. Frazier

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Civil - Unlimited  Other Real Property Summary Judgment / Summary Adjudication (Civil) 37-2020-00017840-CU-OR-CTL JUAREZ VS ENCORE AMERICAN INVESTMENTS INC [IMAGED] CAUSAL DOCUMENT/DATE FILED: Motion for Summary Judgment and/or Adjudication, 05/19/2023

Defendants Centurion Management Group Inc. and Zebeh Karzi's Motion for Summary Judgment is DENIED. (ROA 432.) There are triable issues of material fact which preclude summary judgment. (Pltf. Resp. Sep. Stmt. at ¶¶ 4, 43, 55-56.) Defendants' requests for judicial notice are granted, except as to the two exhibits apparently filed in a different action Riverside. As to these documents, Defendants did not furnish the court with copies of the referenced documents. (Evid. Code § 453.) Defendants' evidentiary objections are overruled. Plaintiff's objections, which are stated only in the separate statement, fail to comply with court rules. (Cal. R. Court, rule 3.1354.) To the extent Defendants' motion could be construed to include an alternative request for summary adjudication, the court has disregarded it. When summary adjudication is sought, 'the specific cause of action, affirmative defense, claims for damages, or issues of duty must be stated specifically in the notice of motion and be repeated, verbatim, in the separate statement of undisputed material facts.' (Cal. R. Court, rule 3.1350(b).) Defendants' notice of motion fails to comply with this requirement.

Further, Defendants' separate statement contains a list of purported 'issues' (Def. Sep. Stmt. at p. 2) that differs from the sometimes numbered, sometimes lettered items set forth further in the separate statement (Id. at pp. 2:21-22, 3:4-5, 5:9-11, 9:13-15, 12:9-11, 16:27-28, 20:2-3, 21:22-23, 23:10-11).

This does not comply with format requirements for a separate statement. (Cal. R. Court, rule 3.1350(b), (d)(1), and (h).) The separate statement also extensively groups numerous facts into a single 'separate fact,' rendering it especially difficult for the court to determine what is or is not in dispute. (See, e.g., Def. Sep. Stmt. at ¶¶ 38, 46.) Due to these defects, the court was unable to clearly determine what causes of action, affirmative defenses, claims for damages, or issues of duty Defendants may have sought for summary adjudication, or even whether summary adjudication was sought in the motion.

Defendants' briefing included many lengthy footnotes containing legal argument. Legal argument is to be presented in the body of the memorandum and footnotes are to be used sparingly in any future briefing before this court.

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