Blizzard Energy, Inc. v. Schaefers

Filed 1/13/20 CERTIFIED FOR PUBLICATION

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

SECOND APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION SIX

BLIZZARD ENERGY, INC., 2d Civil No. B290492 (Super. Ct. No. 17CVP-0266) Plaintiff and Respondent. (San Luis Obispo County)

v.

BERND SCHAEFERS,

Defendant and Appellant,

Bernd Schaefers appeals an order denying his motion to: (1) vacate entry of a $3.825 million Kansas judgment, and (2) post a $5,737,500 undertaking to stay enforcement of the sister-state judgment (Code Civ. Proc., § 1710.50, subd. (c)(1)). 1 We affirm. Facts and Procedural History In 2017, a Kansas jury awarded Blizzard Energy, Inc. (Blizzard), a Kansas corporation, $3.825 million damages in a fraud action against appellant. He appealed the judgment to the Kansas Court of Appeals but did not request a stay of

All statutory references are to the Code of Civil Procedure 1 unless otherwise stated.

enforcement or post a supersedeas bond as required by Kansas law. (K.S.A. § 60-2103(d).) After Blizzard registered the judgment in California pursuant to the Sister State Money Judgment Act (SSMJA; § 1710.10 et seq.), appellant filed a motion to vacate entry of the judgment and an ex parte application to stay enforcement of the judgment. (§ 1710.50.) The San Luis Obispo County Superior Court denied the motion to vacate entry of the judgment but stayed enforcement of the judgment pending resolution of the Kansas appeal, subject to the condition that appellant post a $5,737,500 undertaking by April 6, 2018. (See § 1710.50, subds. (a)(1) & (c)(1).) Appellant failed to post the undertaking and appealed the SSMJA orders. On April 19, 2019, the Court of Appeals of the State of Kansas affirmed the $3.825 million judgment. (Blizzard Energy, Inc. v. Alexandrov et al., Case No. 118,656.) Res Judicata We review the SSMJA order for abuse of discretion. (Conseco Marketing, LLC v. IFA & Ins. Services, Inc. (2013) 221 Cal.App.4th 831, 841; Tsakos Shipping & Trading, S.A. v. Juniper Garden Town Homes, Ltd. (1993) 12 Cal.App.4th 74, 88- 89.) Here, the Kansas Court of Appeals decision moots the appeal based on res judicata principles. Appellant argues that he is innocent of fraud but a Kansas jury found that appellant fraudulently induced Blizzard to build and operate a pyrolysis plant in Kansas to convert millions of used car tires into fuel. The Kansas Court of Appeals affirmed the judgment, holding that the verdict was supported by substantial evidence. We have taken judicial notice of the opinion and the December 19, 2019