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Court of Appeal:
Defendant Was ‘Prevailing Party’ in Action Under DVPA Where Plaintiff Dropped Case
That Was So, Justice Egerton Says, Though Request for Civil Order Was Dismissed by Requestor Only Because She Gained Such an Order in a Criminal Proceeding
By a MetNews Staff Writer
A judge erred in finding that a defendant was not the “prevailing party” in a civil action brought to impose a domestic violence restraining order on him, the Court of Appeal for this district has held, proclaiming that he did prevail even though the circumstances were that the plaintiff dismissed her petition after gaining such an order in a separate criminal proceeding.
But, Justice Anne H. Egerton of Div. Three said in Wednesday’s unpublished opinion, that does not mean that the order by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Jonathan L. Rosenbloom denying an award of attorney fees to the defendant in the civil case need be reversed. Such an award is discretionary, she noted, and, under Art, VI, §13 of the state Constitution, reversal is called for only where an error has resulted “in a miscarriage of justice” which, she declared, did not occur.
Burbank attorney David D. Diamond—a two-time unsuccessful candidate for the Los Angeles Superior Court who has announced his candidacy in the 2022 election—represented defendant Joshua Nathaniel Rivers in the trial court and on appeal. In seeking an award of $6,300 in attorney fees in favor of his client, sued by Marcia Bennett under the Domestic Violence Prevention Act (“DVPA”), Diamond said in an April 2, 2019 notice of motion that his client was “was compelled to respond to and defend a frivolous action,” and set forth in his memorandum of points and authorities:
“Petitioners case was adjudicated in favor of Respondent. On November 20, 2018 the Petitioner asked for an additional hearing date to retain an attorney. On December 10, 2018, the new hearing date, she failed to appear.”
He added in a declaration:
“It is my belief that Petitioner should pay for the Respondent’s attorney’s fees because she [sic] is the prevailing party.”
Omitted Fact
In an opposing declaration dated May 29, 2019, Northridge attorney Bernal P. Ojeda (who also represented Bennett in the appeal) protested:
“The Respondent’s claim as a prevailing party is misleading. Respondent at the present time has a four year criminal restraining order against him, not mentioned in the current motion….[T]his was the reason Petitioner did not appear for the hearing in the instant case. The criminal case is a related case and the criminal protective order should have been mentioned to this court but was not. Given the fact that there is an existing restraining order against Respondent and protecting Petitioner, Respondent cannot claim he is a prevailing party nor can he have that status.”
(Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Peter Mirich granted the restraining order on Nov. 30, 2018, 10 days before the hearing at which Bennett did not appear.)
Ojeda said in his memorandum of points and authorities:
“The criminal action now pending is a related case, involving the same parties, same incident and set of facts.”
The minute order of the June 4 hearing before Rosenbloom on the motion for attorney fees simply recites:
“The Court finds Respondent is not the prevailing party.
“Motion Hearing re attorney fees is denied with prejudice.”
Egerton’s Opinion
In her opinion upholding the outcome, Egerton said:
“Rivers has not demonstrated the trial court’s erroneous prevailing party determination resulted in a miscarriage of justice….[B]ecause Rivers was the respondent on Bennett’s petition for a domestic violence restraining order, the trial court had discretion to deny his request for prevailing party attorney fees under [Family Code] section 6344, subdivision (a).”
She continued:
“On the record before us, it is not reasonably probable that the court would have awarded Rivers the attorney fees he requested, even if the court had properly deemed him the prevailing party on the petition. And, based on this record, we cannot say the court’s denial of prevailing party attorney fees would have been an abuse of discretion.”
The judge went on to say:
“And, given that Bennett dismissed her petition only after already obtaining the protection she sought under the DVPA, we cannot say the trial court’s denial of attorney fees on this ground would have been an abuse of discretion.”
The case is Bennett v. Rivers, B301211.
Copyright 2021, Metropolitan News Company