Smith v. Loya Casualty Insurance CA4/1

Filed 10/19/21 Smith v. Loya Casualty Insurance CA4/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

COURT OF APPEAL, FOURTH APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

STATE OF CALIFORNIA

ANDRE MARIO SMITH, D077848

Plaintiff and Appellant,

v. (Super. Ct. No. 37-2019- 000065019-CU-DF-CTL) LOYA CASUALTY INSURANCE COMPANY,

Defendant and Respondent.

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of San Diego County, Kenneth J. Medel, Judge. Affirmed. Andre Mario Smith, in pro. per., for Plaintiff and Appellant. Straus Meyers, Andrew S. Meyers and Joshua C. Anaya, for Defendant and Respondent. In 2012, Loya Casualty Insurance Company (Loya) inaccurately reported to the Lexis-Nexis Collision Loss Underwriting Exchange (C.L.U.E.) that Andre Mario Smith was at fault in a fatal car accident. Smith sued in small claims court for defamation and prevailed.

On December 9, 2019, Smith filed a complaint against Loya in superior court alleging defamation based on the same inaccurate report. Loya demurred, arguing the claim was time-barred and the statement had already been litigated. The court sustained the demurrer without leave to amend. Smith appeals, contending the court erred because the publication at issue was different from the one previously litigated and was not time-barred. Smith also argues the court acted with bias. Smith fails to carry his burden to show reversible error or court bias; thus, we affirm. BACKGROUND AND PROCEDURAL FACTS In January 2017, Smith sued Loya in small claims court for falsely reporting to C.L.U.E. in 2012 that Smith was at-fault for a fatal motor vehicle collision when Smith was not at-fault. Smith prevailed, and judgment was entered against Loya on December 21, 2017. The judgment awarded monetary damages and directed Loya to report to C.L.U.E. that Smith was not at-fault for the collision. Loya complied with the order, and the judgment was satisfied. Smith filed an acknowledgement of satisfaction of judgment on January 2, 2018. On December 9, 2019, Smith filed a complaint against Loya in superior court. On January 13, 2020, Smith filed a first amended complaint. The complaint alleged that the June 21, 2012 statement “ ‘was the subject of