Sunseri v. Camperos Del Valle Stables, Inc.

Opinion

CHANNELL, J.

Appellant Western World Insurance Company moved to vacate a stipulated judgment to which it was not a party. (Code Civ. Proc., § 473.j

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The trial court denied the motion by order. Western World appeals, contending that the judgment should be set aside as the product of fraud and collusion. We affirm the trial court’s order.

I. Facts

In April 1982, plaintiff-respondent Ronald Sunseri was injured as a result of a collision between his vehicle and a horse. He brought a personal injury action against defendants Camperos Del Valle Stables, Inc., Henry Franco, and Randy Franco. Appellant Western World Insurance Company was the defendants’ insurer, but was not a party to this action. The insurance company concluded that its policy with the defendants had been cancelled a month before the incident, and, in October 1983 when the defendants tendered their defense of the claim to the insurance company, it refused to defend them.

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In June 1984, the parties to the underlying lawsuit entered into a stipulated judgment awarding Sunseri $550,000. The defendants had already assigned their rights to sue Western World for the amount of the judgment to Sunseri. The same month, Sunseri filed a separate action for damages against Western World. In September, Western World filed a motion to vacate the stipulated judgment (§ 473), alleging that it was the product of fraud and collusion; the trial court denied the motion by order. In the order, the trial court did not rule on the insurance company’s standing to set aside the judgment, but rejected the motion on the merits. Western World filed a timely appeal from the order.

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II. Discussion

Western World contends that the trial court abused its discretion when denying its motion to set aside the stipulated judgment. (§ 473.)