Pacific Air Lines, Inc. v. Superior Court

DRAPER, J.

Petitioner is defendant in wrongful death actions filed in San Francisco by real parties in interest as plaintiffs. Petitioner’s motions for change of venue to San Mateo County were denied, and it sought writ of mandate (Code Civ. Proe., § 400). We issued alternative writ.

Each motion for change of venue was supported by declaration stating: “I, Clarence A. Myhre, declare under penalty of perjury: I am an officer” of defendant corporation. The declaration then avers that defendant was and is an Arizona corporation qualified to do business in California and having its principal place of business in San Mateo County, and that the accident in issue occurred in Contra Costa County.

Real parties first contend that the declaration is insufficient in that it fails to state the facts declared “to be true” (Code Civ. Proe., § 2015.5). This return to the overly technical requirements of early common law pleading is not only repugnant, but is not required by the authority cited

(Gee

[589]

Chong Pong

v.

Harris,

38 Cal.App. 214 [175 P. 806]). There a partnership purportedly was sworn, but an individual signed. The court pointed out that no prosecution for perjury would lie against the non-signing partners, and the signer would be similarly immune since he had not been sworn and did not purport as an individual to state the facts. Mere addition of a jurat to a letter, without any indication that the signers vouched for the letter’s statements, has been held insufficient as verification of a claim

(Hoffman

v.

City of Palm Springs,

169 Cal.App.2d 645 [337 P.2d 521]).

These decisions state that the test of sufficiency of an affidavit is whether an indictment for perjury will lie if it is false. Such a prosecution will lie upon an affidavit reciting that affiant, “being first duly sworn deposes and says” specific matters, although it contains no averment that its contents are true