Hanassab v. Zloof CA2/3

Filed 4/12/16 Hanassab v. Zloof CA2/3 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 8.1115(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION THREE

NASSIR HANASSAB, B258251

Plaintiff and Appellant, (Los Angeles County Super. Ct. No. EC054884) v.

MOSHE ZLOOF et al.,

Defendants and Respondents.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County, Elizabeth Lippett, Judge. Affirmed. Ardalan & Associates, P. Christopher Ardalan and Mark K. Drew for Plaintiff and Appellant. Gilbert, Kelly, Crowley & Jennett, Timothy W. Kenna and Rebecca J. Smith for Defendants and Respondents. _________________________

Plaintiff and appellant Nassir Hanassab appeals from a jury verdict finding defendant and respondent Serene Zloof not negligent in connection with a car accident. Hanassab contends that the trial court prejudiced him by excluding impeachment evidence. We reject that contention and affirm the judgment. BACKGROUND On January 12, 2009, Hanassab and Zloof were in a car accident at Coldwater Canyon and Ventura Boulevard. According to Zloof, Hanassab was verbally and physically threatening. She therefore left the scene of the accident and drove to a nearby street where she called 911. Hanassab denied engaging in such behavior and instead contended that when Zloof drove away, he was knocked down and injured. Hanassab, in January 2011, therefore sued Zloof for, among other things, negligence.1 On May 8, 2014, a jury found that Zloof was not negligent. Judgment was entered in Zloof’s favor on June 16, 2014. This appeal followed. DISCUSSION Hanassab’s sole contention is the trial court prejudicially erred by excluding alleged impeachment evidence. We discern no error. The impeachment issue arose in the context of Zloof’s testimony that she left the scene of the accident because Hanassab became verbally and physically abusive. On leaving, she turned onto Dickens and then onto Valley Vista, where she stopped and called 911. This took about five minutes, going 10-to-20 miles per hour. To impeach this testimony, Hanassab wanted to call an “investigator,” who, over the weekend of trial, “videotape[d] driving with a camera on the speedometer at 15 to 20 miles per hour, from the Coldwater and Ventura to time how long it would take” “to get around to Dickens where Ms. Zloof approximately said she had stopped. And then thereafter, to Valley Vista, and then back to Coldwater.” This took the investigator less than five minutes to