Mitchell v. Superior Court

Filed 12/4/15 Certified for Publication 12/22/15 (order attached)

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION FOUR

KARLA DANETTE MITCHELL, No. B264143

Petitioner, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. BC505842) v.

SUPERIOR COURT OF LOS ANGELES COUNTY,

Respondent;

ERNESTINE LISA JOHNSON,

Real Party in Interest.

ORIGINAL PROCEEDINGS in mandate. Elizabeth A. Lippitt, Judge. Petition granted. Law Offices of Herb Fox, Herb Fox; Law Office of A. Liberatore, and Anthony Liberatore, for Petitioner. No appearance for Respondent. Bretoi & Associates and Jeffrey S. Bretoi for Real Party in Interest.

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This petition seeks to vacate the trial court’s order of April 20, 2015, granting the motion in limine of defendant and real party in interest, Ernestine Lisa Johnson. The trial court’s order excluded the testimony of three of plaintiff’s proposed witnesses and was imposed as an evidence sanction for plaintiff’s alleged failure to respond completely to an interrogatory. The court stayed the action, issued notice to the parties of its intention to grant the peremptory writ in the first instance and gave real party in interest the opportunity to file plenary opposition to the petition. No opposition was filed. We have determined that respondent committed an abuse of discretion and that issuance of an alternative writ and oral argument would not measurably contribute to our consideration of the issue and would cause undue delay. (Alexander v. Superior Court (1993) 5 Cal.4th 1218, 1222-1223; Ng v. Superior Court (1992) 4 Cal.4th 29, 35; Palma v. U.S. Industrial Fasteners, Inc. (1984) 36 Cal.3d 171, 180.) FACTS The material facts are undisputed. Petitioner Karla Danette Mitchell is the plaintiff in an action filed against Johnson and Doe defendants, in which plaintiff has sued for personal injury and property damage allegedly suffered in an automobile accident in 2012. Plaintiff asserts she has incurred wage loss, loss of use of property, hospital and medical expenses, general damage, property damage, loss of earning capacity, and miscellaneous related damages. Defendant propounded form interrogatories published by the Judicial Council. Interrogatory No. 12.1 relates to general investigation of an incident and provides: “State the name, ADDRESS, and telephone number of each individual: [¶] (a) who witnessed the INCIDENT or the events occurring immediately before or after the INCIDENT; [¶] (b) who made any statement at the scene of the INCIDENT; [¶] (c) who heard any statements made about the INCIDENT by any 2