K and Stuff Testimony Flummoxes Hearsay Ruling

Hart v. Keenan Props., Inc., No. A152692 (D1d5 Nov. 19, 2018)

The trial in this asbestos case presented a classic product ID question: Was the Defendant the distributor of asbestos-containing pipe product that Plaintiff used on jobs where he worked as a pipe layer? The evidence was thin. Plaintiff knew the pipes were asbestos cement pipes made by a particular manufacturer. But he didn’t know the distributor. And there were no records from the time to show that Defendant was, in fact, the distributor.

Public Forum Questions Under CCP § 425.16(e)(4)

Ralph’s Grocery Co. v. Victory Consultants, Inc., No. D070804 (D4d1 Nov. 15, 2017)

The trial court in this case granted an anti-SLAPP motion, dismissing a case where a grocery store sued paid petition signature gathering company for trespassing when it gathered signatures right outside the entrances to two grocery stores in San Diego. 

On the Epistemology of an Agreement

In re Automobile Antitrust Cases I and II, No. A134913 (D1d4 Jul. 5, 2016)

The trial court granted SJ in an antitrust case premised on an anti-competitive agreement not to import cheaper but otherwise identical cars from Canada. The appeal presents some interesting evidentiary issues. 

SJ Evidence Rulings Get De Novo Review

Pipitone v. Williams, No. H041468 (D6 Feb. 23, 2016)

The facts of this wrongful death case are complicated, but they essentially entail a husband’s killing his wife in a domestic dispute. Plaintiff is the Wife’s mother. One defendant is the husband’s father, who is also a doctor, who happened to treat the wife when she suffered an earlier injury that was later discovered to be the result of a prior incident of domestic abuse. Although the Doctor/Father/Defendant claimed not to know that at the time. The other defendant is another doctor who treated the Wife/Decedent for the same earlier injury. The trial court granted SJ on duty and causation.