Hruby v. Podesta CA1/1

Filed 10/11/22 Hruby v. Podesta CA1/1 NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS California Rules of Court, rule 8.1115(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or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 This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 8.1115.

IN THE COURT OF APPEAL OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA

FIRST APPELLATE DISTRICT

DIVISION ONE

KAREN HRUBY, Plaintiff and Appellant, A160504 v. GARY PODESTA, (San Mateo County Super. Ct. No. CIV538687) Defendant and Respondent.

Around 45 years after a sports car was stolen from a couple’s garage, a car with the same Vehicle Identification Number (VIN) was found in the possession of respondent Gary Podesta. The husband who owned the sports car when it was stolen sued Podesta to regain possession of it, and after he died, his wife continued the lawsuit. Following a bench trial, the trial court concluded that there was insufficient proof that the found car was the same as the stolen one, and that the doctrine of laches barred the wife’s claims in any event. Because substantial evidence supports these conclusions, we affirm. I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND Raymond Hruby was interested in sports cars and, in 1969, purchased a 1966 Shelby Cobra. He alleged in his original, first-amended, and second-

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amended verified complaints that he purchased the car from Thomas Lee Pottberg. After Raymond died, his wife, appellant Karen Hruby,1 filed a third amended complaint alleging Raymond purchased the Cobra from “the prior owner,” and at trial she testified he purchased it from Timothy Uschyk. The record contains the following evidence that the Hrubys owned the Cobra: a copy of a 1968 California Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) registration card issued in July 1968 and listing Pottberg as the owner of the Cobra; a September 1969 handwritten notice of deposit for the Cobra, purportedly signed by Uschyk; and a bill of sale also purportedly signed by Uschyk. Karen also produced a copy of a DMV registration card issued in October 1969 and listing Raymond as the owner of the Cobra and “UCB” (United California Bank) as the legal owner. According to Karen, she and Raymond obtained a small loan of around $700 from UCB to pay for repairs to the Cobra. She did not, however, provide any documents relating to the loan. According to Karen, the Cobra was stolen from her and Raymond’s Los Angeles garage in June 1970. A police report states that Karen left her house with the garage door locked with a padlock, and when she returned the garage door was open and the car had been taken. Unbeknownst to the Hrubys, a man named John Godfrey Sanders, Jr. had a friend, “Greg,” who offered to sell Sanders a Cobra with a VIN matching the one taken from the Hrubys’ garage. The friend dropped off the car at the home of Sanders’s parents, according to Sanders, but the sale was never finalized. Police arrived at the house and impounded the car because it had been reported stolen. Sanders investigated with law enforcement and learned that an insurance company acquired title to the Cobra. Sanders then