Rasmussen v. Superior Court

Filed 5/5/11

IN THE SUPREME COURT OF CALIFORNIA

JANE HYDE RASMUSSEN et al., ) S182407 ) Petitioners, ) Ct.App. 4/3 ) G042454 v. ) ) THE SUPERIOR COURT OF ORANGE ) Orange County COUNTY, ) JCCP No. 4392 ) Respondent; ) ) PRAVEEN BUNYAN et al., ) ) Real Parties in Interest. ) ____________________________________)

This matter, involving a church property dispute, is before this court for the second time. (See Episcopal Church Cases (2009) 45 Cal.4th 467.) St. James Parish in Newport Beach (St. James Parish) was a parish within the Episcopal Diocese of Los Angeles (Los Angeles Diocese), a diocese within the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America (Episcopal Church). The parish has disaffiliated from the diocese and the national church and joined another church. The national church and St. James Parish both claim ownership of the church building that St. James Parish used and the property on which the building stands. The Los Angeles Diocese and certain individuals (hereafter Los Angeles Diocese) sued persons connected with St. James Parish (hereafter St. James

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Parish) claiming the national church owns the property. Later, the Episcopal Church intervened on the side of the Los Angeles Diocese and filed a complaint in intervention against St. James Parish, also claiming the national church owns the property. St. James Parish moved to strike the Los Angeles Diocese’s lawsuit as a “strategic lawsuit against public participation,” generally known as a “SLAPP suit.” (See Episcopal Church Cases, supra, 45 Cal.4th at p. 473, fn. 1; Code Civ. Proc., § 425.16.) The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the action without leave to amend. It later sustained without leave to amend St. James Parish’s demurrer to the Episcopal Church’s complaint in intervention and dismissed that action. The Los Angeles Diocese and Episcopal Church appealed. The Court of Appeal consolidated the appeals and reversed both judgments of dismissal. It ruled that the action was not a SLAPP suit, and that the trial court erred in sustaining the demurrer. Its disposition stated, “Further proceedings shall be consistent with this opinion.” We granted review to decide whether the action was a SLAPP suit and to address the merits of the property dispute. We affirmed the judgment of the Court of Appeal, although our reasoning differed in some respects from the Court of Appeal’s. (Episcopal Church Cases, supra, 45 Cal.4th at p. 493.) We stated the method courts should use in resolving church property disputes. (Id. at pp. 478-485.) Applying that approach, we also concluded, “on this record, that the general church, not the local church, owns the property in question.” (Id. at p. 473; see also id. at pp. 485-493.) On remand in the trial court, St. James Parish answered the complaint and complaint in intervention, and filed a cross-complaint against the Los Angeles Diocese. St. James Parish continues to contend it owns the property. It relies largely on a 1991 letter that, it claims, places ownership with the parish. The Los Angeles Diocese and Episcopal Church moved for judgment on the pleadings and demurred to the cross-complaint. The court denied the motion for judgment on the