CA Unpub Decisions

Plaintiff, the Association of Former Vietnamese Navy Frogmen (the Association) appeals the trial courts decision granting An Dinh Les motion to quash service and dismiss the lawsuit against him. The court found that California did not have personal jurisdiction over Le. Court agree and affirm.

John Clark appeals from a defense judgment in this action against Jeffrey Lukawski to recover unpaid wages. Clark argues the evidence was sufficient to establish he was not paid for all of the hours worked. Court disagree and affirm.

Defendant (Sandman) is a cement contractor which makes multiple cement deliveries within the City of Santa Clara (City) on a weekly basis. The City filed an action for an injunction to prohibit any discharge of cement waste by Sandman during concrete deliveries within the city limits. On April 11, 2003, the parties entered into a settlement which resulted in a stipulated judgment for permanent injunction. On March 24, 2004, the City obtained an order to show cause re: contempt. On March 25, 2005, the trial court entered a judgment holding that Sandman had violated the terms of the injunction. This appeal ensued.
The parties have now entered into a settlement which resolves the issues raised in the appeal. One of the conditions of settlement is that the parties jointly seek a reversal of the trial courts judgment.
The judgment is reversed pursuant to the stipulation of the parties. Each party to bear its own attorney fees and costs on appeal. The remittitur issued forthwith

Defendant appeals from a judgment below and from a postjudgment court order that she pay $30,000 in attorney fees to plaintiff Anita Ramirez pursuant to former Code of Civil Procedure section 2033 (former section 2033), subdivision (o), which appeals we consolidated by order dated May 19, 2005. Matsumoto pursues reversal of the court order only in her appellate papers. Court affirm.

Defendant Shannon Avery appeals a judgment entered upon a jury verdict finding him guilty of assault with a deadly weapon or by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury. He contends he received ineffective assistance of counsel. Court affirm.

Defendant (Lunsford) was found guilty after a jury trial of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. (Pen. Code, 187, subd. (a), 182, subd. (a)(1).) The jury also found that Lunsford committed the murder while armed with a firearm (Pen. Code, 12022, subd. (a)(1)), and lying in wait for the victim. (Pen. Code, 190.2, subd. (a)(15).) Lunsford was sentenced to life without possibility of parole on the murder conviction, and 15 years to life on the conspiracy conviction.
Lunsford has two main contentions on appeal: that the prosecutor was guilty of prejudicial misconduct in closing argument, and that prejudicial error resulted from the use of a jury instruction regarding fabrication of evidence by a third party (CALJIC No. 2.05). Court affirm the judgment.

A jury found defendant Ramon Sanchez guilty on one count of auto theft and one count of evading a peace officer by reckless driving, based on testimony of a police officer who was one hundred percent sure that defendant was the individual he saw driving a stolen Honda Accord. On appeal, defendant argues that the circumstances surrounding the identification are such that [the officers] identification is unreliable as a matter of law and cannot support a conviction. Defendants dispute with the officers testimony, however, presents only an issue of credibility, which under well‑settled law is within the sole province of the trier of fact and cannot (with few exceptions not applicable here) be raised on appeal. (People v. Fleming (1961) 191 Cal.App.2d 163, 169-170.) Court reject defendants claim, conclude that the jurys verdict is supported by substantial evidence, and affirm.

Appellants Janis Arnold and Fred Johnson rented an apartment from respondents Saldan, LLC and David Salma. They filed suit for various claims arising out of the landlord-tenant relationship and obtained a verdict totaling $8,633.31 on causes of action for breach of the implied covenant of habitability and illegal lockout. The court ordered that the parties bear their own costs and awarded $20,370 in statutory attorney fees to tenants under Civil Code sections 789.3 and 1942.4. Appellants have appealed this award, arguing that the amount of attorneys fees was too low, that the trial court erred by apportioning fees between the causes of action on which they prevailed and other claims that were dismissed prior to trial, and that other costs should have been included in the award. Court affirm.

A state employee labor union appeals from the denial of its petition to compel arbitration of a dispute over retirement benefits. Court reverse.

A jury found appellant Aaron Matthew Horsman guilty of receiving stolen property. (See Pen. Code, 496, subd. (a).) He was granted probation and required to serve 120 days in county jail as a condition of probation. Horsman appeals the judgment, contending that prejudicial error occurred because the court failed to instruct the jury on the corpus delicti rule. (See CALJIC No. 2.72.) The Attorney General concedes that the court should have given this instruction but contends that the error was harmless. Court affirm the judgment.

Defendant appeals from an order finding a probation violation and a judgment sentencing him to state prison. His counsel has asked this court for an independent review of the record to determine whether there are any arguable issues on appeal. (People v. Wende (1979) 25 Cal.3d 436.) After review of the record, Court determine there are no arguable issues on appeal and affirm.

The decedent, Charles Eyler, received the proceeds from a personal injury settlement while living apart from his wife, Katherine Eyler. After his death, Katherine claimed the funds were community property. Charles's mother and sister disagreed, arguing that the funds were Charles's separate property because he received them while separated from Katherine. The trial court ruled that the funds are community in character because Charles's physical injury occurred while he and Katherine were living together. Court agree and affirm.

Plaintiffs Helen L. Quan and Nelson W. Quan appeal from a judgment which was based upon an order sustaining defendant Natividad Delgados demurrer without leave to amend to the sole cause of action against her and a subsequent order awarding attorneys fees to defendant as the prevailing party. Court affirm.

Ralph Kenneth Davis sued the Robert Bosch Tool Corporation ("Bosch"), the Robert Bosch Corporation ("the Parent"), and Bosch executive Gary Tharp for misrepresentation and deceit, breach of an implied contract not to discharge except for good cause, age discrimination in violation of FEHA, wrongful termination based on age in violation of public policy, invasion of privacy, defamation, and Labor Code violations.
The case went to trial on causes of action for breach of implied contract not to fire without good cause, wrongful termination based on age, defamation, and for unpaid wages. Davis prevailed on the causes of action for breach of contract and for unpaid wages. Defendants prevailed on the causes of action for age discrimination and defamation.
Bosch and the Parent appealed, challenging the sufficiency of the evidence for the jury verdict and the inclusion of the Parent in the judgment. Davis cross-appealed, raising issues concerning damages and costs. Court reverse the judgment as to the Parent, and in all other respects affirm.