TIMOTHY ROBBINS VS MARIANNE ALYEA

Tentative Rulings

Case Number: BC658161    Hearing Date: December 15, 2020    Dept: 17

Superior Court of California

County of Los Angeles

DEPARTMENT 17

TENTATIVE RULING

Respondent’s motion for reconsideration is GRANTED to the extent that the Court will attempt to contact the Honorable Judge Rico to determine if he recalls facts pertinent to the settlement statement. The parties are directed to produce a 1-2 page trial summary to be provided to Judge Rico.

On October 16, 2020, this Court signed an order certifying Defendant and Appellant’s Proposed Settlement Statement.

Respondent now moves for reconsideration, requesting that a hearing being held to resolve the parties factual disputes and requesting that Judge Rico be contacted.

Legal Standard

Pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 1008, subdivision (a), a motion for reconsideration must be brought “within 10 days after service upon the party of written notice of entry of the order and based upon new or different facts, circumstances, or law, make application to the same judge or court that made the order, to reconsider the matter and modify, amend, or revoke the prior order.”  (New York Times Co. v. Superior Court (2005) 135 Cal.App.4th 206, 212.)  

Discussion

Respondent requests that: (1) Judge Rico be contacted, citing People v. Hawthorne (1992) 4 Cal.4th 43-65-66; and (2) a hearing being held to resolve the parties factual disputes.

This situation presents a number of difficulties. First, no court reporter was present at the trial, so no official transcript of the proceeding exists. Second, while Judge Rico apparently took notes throughout the trial, the Court has been unable to locate any case file containing those notes. Third, Judge Rico has since retired from the bench.

In Hawthorne, 4 Cal.4th 43-65, the Court faced a comparable situation to that presented here. There, Judge Reid was charged with resolving a settled statement from a trial that was heard and tried by Judge Lew. Judge Lew had since been appointed to the federal bench. Judge Reid was being asked to resolve a factual dispute over what the parties had previously stipulated to during the trial. Given that he had not presided over the trial, Judge Reid contacted Judge Lew and asked him to review the court file to determine whether he might recall any pertinent facts. (Id. at p. 62.) In a submitted declaration, Judge Lew stated that an examination of the file had refreshed his recollection of the relevant testimony, and he provided his recollection of what the parties had, in fact, previously stipulated to. Judge Reid “subsequently prepared an engrossed settlement statement substantially in conformance with Judge Lew’s declaration as reiterated in his testimony.” (Id. at p. 62-63.)

The primary distinction between Hawthorne, and the situation here, is that a case file was available in Hawthorne for both Judge Reid and Judge Lew to review. Here, by contrast, there is no case file, which means that this Court has no means by which to evaluate the contents of the settled statement, nor does it have any documentation to provide Judge Rico in hopes of refreshing his memory.

The Court asks that a 1-2 page trial summary be prepared. This summary will be given to Judge Rico to help refresh his memory of the trial, and hopefully enable him to evaluate the settled statement.

It is so ordered.

Dated: December , 2020

Hon. Jon R. Takasugi Judge of the Superior Court

Parties who intend to submit on this tentative must send an email to the court at smcdept17@lacourt.org by 4 p.m. the day prior as directed by the instructions provided on the court website at www.lacourt.org.  If a party submits on the tentative, the party’s email must include the case number and must identify the party submitting on the tentative. If all parties to a motion submit, the court will adopt this tentative as the final order. If the department does not receive an email indicating the parties are submitting on the tentative and there are no appearances at the hearing, the motion may be placed off calendar.

Due to Covid-19, the court is strongly discouraging in-person appearances. Parties, counsel, and court reporters present are subject to temperature checks and health inquiries, and will be denied entry if admission could create a public health risk. The court encourages the parties wishing to argue to appear via L.A. Court Connect. For more information, please contact the court clerk at (213) 633-0517. Your understanding during these difficult times is appreciated.