Judge: Teresa A. Beaudet, Case: 24STCV15535, Date: 2025-05-12 Tentative Ruling

Case Number: 24STCV15535    Hearing Date: May 12, 2025    Dept: 50

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

Department 50

            Plaintiffs Roland Dreher, individually and as Trustee of the Roland W. Dreher Trust dated December 2, 2016, and Elaine Dreher, an individual, (“Plaintiffs”), filed this quiet title and elder abuse action against defendant Arcadio Laguna, Jr. (“Defendant”) and Does 1-20 on June 21, 2024.

Plaintiffs now request entry of default judgment against Defendant in the total amount of $4,123,219.77, which includes $3,774,520.08 in principal and punitive damages, $348,005.31 in prejudgment interest, and $694.38 in costs.

A Status Conference Re: Review of Default Judgment Package is set concurrently with a Default Prove Up Hearing (Quiet Title) for this date.

Regarding the prove-up materials for Plaintiffs’ non-title claims: their default package is deficient on a number of grounds, as follows:

1. Plaintiffs did not file and serve a separate statement of punitive damages. (See Code Civ. Proc., § 425.115.) They must either abandon their claim for punitive damages, or the Court must vacate default for them to file and serve the statement, then permit 30 days for Defendant to answer. (See id., subd. (f).)
2. Plaintiffs’ interest calculation is incorrect. Defendant did not have “effective control over all of Plaintiffs’ funds” beginning with his first fraudulent withdrawal. Interest accrued separately beginning with each fraudulent withdrawal. This arithmetic will require a thorough, clear, and detailed separate accounting, or the Court will award interest beginning from the date of the final withdrawal.
3. Plaintiff has not dismissed all fictitiously named defendants.
4. Mr. Dreher does not lay foundation for his testimony or demonstrate his competence to testify to the estimated value of his stolen coin collection (“not less than $250,000.00”).
5. Plaintiffs appear to claim damages going back to 2018. They filed their lawsuit on June 21, 2024. The statute of limitations for elder abuse is four years. (Welf. & Inst. Code, § 15657.7.) Plaintiffs must limit their claims accordingly or prove up tolling facts.

Plaintiffs have also not filed the requisite JUD-100 (although, given the deficiencies noted above, no judgment could be entered at this stage).

Finally: upon re-submission of their default package, Plaintiffs should include an additional exhibit, supplementing Exhibit A to the Declaration of Roland Dreher, that includes only relevant bank statement pages, with the offending line items highlighted, alongside Plaintiffs’ “Summary” accounting pages, to assist the Court in its review of the supporting evidence.

The Court continues the Status Conference Re: Review of Default Judgment Package to __________________, 2025 at _______ a.m. / p.m.

DATED:  May 12, 2025                           ________________________________

Hon. Teresa A. Beaudet

Judge, Los Angeles Superior Court