Lerner v. Superior Court

[658]

Opinion

KAUS, P. J.

Petition for a writ of mandate to compel the respondent court to vacate its ruling denying petitioner’s motion for a summary judgment and to make an order granting that motion.

Real parties in interest, plaintiffs below, filed an action for personal injuries and wrongful death arising out of an accident in Tijuana, Mexico, on July 27, 1972. Petitioner, defendant below, is sued as the alleged driver and owner of a certain Dodge automobile involved in the accident. It appears, however, that any contention that she is liable other than as the owner has been abandoned. The record does not show whether the actual driver of the Dodge is known.

The motion for summary judgment is based on the premise that at the time of the accident defendant was no longer the owner within the meaning of Vehicle Code section 17150, having complied with the requirements of section 5602 of that code.

1

In support of her motion for summary judgment, defendant submitted five declarations: Her own, her husband’s, her daughter’s, her insurance agent’s and her attorney’s.

The key declaration is plaintiff’s own. It alleges in substance: Before June 27, 1972, she was the sole owner of the Dodge. She advertised it for sale in a newspaper. On June 25 or June 26, she sold it to a young man, whose name and address she wrote down. She has, however, mislaid the piece of paper and cannot recall the name or address of the buyer. The buyer paid $1,125 in cash. She dated and signed the pink ownership certificate and the white registration certificate and gave them to the buyer who drove away in the automobile. A few days later, she mailed him an extra set of keys. On June 27, she cancelled her insurance on the

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Dodge. On or about the date of the sale, she also mailed a form to the motor vehicle department advising it of the sale. The form included the name of the purchaser. She knows nothing about the accident in question.