Defendant's Demurrer
Plaintiff shall submit proposed forms of order and judgment consistent with the Court's ruling herein.
CV-25-008572 - SYNCHRONY BANK vs DEWEERDT, CAROL - Plaintiff's Motion for Entering Judgment Pursuant to Defendant's Default Under Settlement and Release Agreement - HEARING REQUIRED. The Court notes a discrepancy between Defendant's mailing address as indicated in the proof of service for Plaintiff's for Dismissal, which was submitted on 3-13-26, and that which appears on the notice of default dated 3-6-26 (Exhibit 2 to counsel's supporting declaration herein) and on the proof of service for the instant motion (dated 4-22-26), as both of the latter appear to have been directed to Morning Law Group in Irvine, California. As the Court cannot determine from the documents on file whether the notice of default and instant motion were properly served, counsel shall appear to address this issue.
CV-25-010863 - SALVEMINI, SUMI vs TRACY RIDGE HEALTHCARE INC - Plaintiff's Motion to Advance the Trial Date- - HEARING REQUIRED. The Court intends to GRANT the motion. (Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 36(a).) Counsel shall appear at the time of the hearing in order to select a mutually agreeable trial date within the parameters specified by Code Civ. Proc. Sec. 36(f).
UD-26-000442 - HARRIS, DEBRA vs TELLER, CHANTEL - Defendant's Demurrer - HEARING REQUIRED.
The following are the tentative rulings for cases calendared before Judge Sonny S. Sandhu in Department 24:
CV-21-005695 - GHARRAEE, ZAHRA vs TRADER JOES COMPANY - Cross Appellant's, Zahra Gharraee's Motion to Use Settled Statement on Appeal - DENIED.
Procedural History
Plaintiff filed a motion seeking leave to proceed by settled statement under rule 8.137(b)(2) and, in the alternative, for leave to amend APP-003 to reflect an election under rule 8.137(b)(1). Plaintiff asserts that on September 10, 11, 12, and 18, 2025, the jury was presented with videotaped or read deposition testimony of nine nonparty witnesses, that no court reporter was present for those presentations, and that a settled statement is therefore needed to create an appellate record. Plaintiff attributes an incorrect box selection on APP-003 to inadvertence and submits a proposed amended APP-003 as Exhibit 1 to the Moreno Declaration.
Defendant opposes, arguing Plaintiff is attempting to use rule 8.137 to bypass rule 2.1040's procedure for preserving deposition recordings presented at trial; that rule 8.137 does not authorize importing nearly 250 pages of deposition transcripts in lieu of a condensed narrative; that the request is premature under rule 8.130(h) because the clerk has not issued a notice that any portion of designated proceedings cannot be transcribed; and that the parties dispute what deposition excerpts were actually played or stipulated to.
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Defendant supports the opposition with declarations from attorneys Hall and Mathis asserting, among other things, that Plaintiff's April 22, 2026, proposed statement includes transcript portions not in Plaintiff's designations and that Defendant disputes those portions were shown to the jury. Mathis identifies examples of lines for multiple witnesses that, in her review, were not included in Plaintiff's written designations and, to her knowledge and recollection, were not played at trial.
Plaintiff replies that rule 2.1040 governs trial procedures for electronic recordings and does not bar use of a settled statement on appeal when the trial record is incomplete; that disagreements about what occurred are precisely what the settled-statement process is designed to resolve; and proposes a timeline to proceed under rule 8.137.
Analysis
The Court finds that Plaintiff's request is procedurally improper. California Rules of Court (discussed in the parties' papers) Rule 8.137 permits use of a settled statement as a summary of superior court proceedings, including when (1) the designated oral proceedings were not reported by a court reporter (rule 8.137(b)(1)(A)) or (2) on motion for other reasons (rule 8.137(b)(2)), and describes content and process, including that the statement must be a "condensed narrative of the oral proceedings" and sets deadlines for service, amendments, and settlement (rule 8.137(c)-(e)) .