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Small Claims Court

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evs3939

Junior Member
What is the name of your state? CA

I have sued someone in good faith through small claims court for assault and battery. The judge did not award me damages. Now, the person that I sued is suing me for defending herself in that lawsuit. She is suing me for $5,000. Can she do that? My trial date is on July 31st, 2007. My lawyer advised me to request dismissal as her case is for malicious prosecution based upon my prior Small Claims lawsuit against her. I wrote a letter to the judge to dismiss the case but the judge denied it. What do I do to win my case?
 


dcatz

Senior Member
This is a bit confusing. Can you tell us two things? Are you now being sued in Small Claims Court? While you were not awarded damages in the original case, did you win or lose?

If you’re being sued in Small Claims Court, no judge is going to dismiss a claim based on a letter. Even if the claim has no merit, the plaintiff will “have her day in court”. She may lose at that time, but she will have her hearing before an adverse judgment. If you’re being sued in a higher court, the appropriate approach would be a Motion for Summary Judgment or, perhaps, for Summary Adjudication, rather than a Request for Dismissal.

If the ruling in the original case was in your favor, but no damages were awarded, that’s fatal to a malicious prosecution case. If the ruling was in her favor, it’s another matter. But, in any event, while questions about malicious prosecution are tossed around a lot in these forums, it’s very hard to prove.

While we try to avoid “legalese”, I think some is necessary to answer your question. When attorneys talk about the claims underlying a suit, they refer to them as “causes of action”. A cause of action is comprised of “elements” – the things that you must prove to win. In your state, the elements of a malicious prosecution action arising out of a civil case are set forth in California Jury Instructions-Civil (BAJI) 7.30. They are as follows: (1) The MP defendant initiated or was actively instrumental in the commencement or maintenance of a civil proceeding against the MP plaintiff, (2) The civil proceeding against the MP plaintiff terminated in the MP plaintiff's favor, (3) The MP defendant acted without probable cause in commencing or maintaining the civil proceeding, (4) The MP defendant acted with malice, and (5) The malicious actions of the MP defendant caused the MP plaintiff to suffer injury, damage, loss, or harm.

All must be proven to win, and all can be difficult. The failure to prove any one means you lose. Bear this in mind when preparing your defense. From (2), you will understand why I asked if the original ruling was in your favor but you weren’t awarded damages. The elements of favorable termination, lack of probable cause, and malice are the most common reasons that a MP defendant (you) would prevail; they are the hardest for the MP plaintiff to prove.

The probable cause standard is whether any reasonable attorney would have thought the claim tenable, or not frivolous. A claim is frivolous only if any reasonable attorney would agree that it is totally and completely without merit. Even a loss in the original case does not necessarily mean that you lacked probable cause and it doesn’t raise such an inference for the Court. However, there is one problem that I do see, and that is that a record of the proceedings is not kept in Small Claims. Unless the Court has the file from the original case and the original judge made extensive notes, you may have to argue that case again to prove that you had probable cause for filing.

The issue of malice is determined, in part, by evidence that the original plaintiff (you) wished to vex, annoy, or injure the original defendant. It does not necessarily require that the plaintiff be angry or vindictive or bear any actual hostility or ill will toward the defendant. Instead, it means an attitude or state of mind that actuates the commission of an act for some improper or wrongful motive or purpose. (BAJI 7.34). Your attorney will tell you that “state of mind” is a hard thing to prove and very seldom arises as an issue in Small Claims Court.

The MP plaintiff has the burden of proof to establish each and all of these things.

I again apologize for the inordinate amount of “legalese”, but I hope that it gives you some sense of what must go on and, perhaps some things to discuss further with your attorney.
 

evs3939

Junior Member
Thank you for your response. This is very helpful to me.

Yes, I am now being sued in Small Claims Court. I am not sure if I win or lose in my previous lawsuit, but I was not awarded damages. The judgment letter specifically states only "defendant does not owe plaintiff any money on the plaintiff's claim". My lawyer did say it didn't mean that I did not win my case. I just was not awarded damages.

The plaintiff's claim now specifically states that she is claiming for "expenses and punitive damages incurred defending herself in court action for false accusations on May 2, 2007." May 2, 2007 was the date when I sued her in court. She did not say she is suing me for malicious prosecution, but my lawyer says her claim is for malicious prosecution.

Like I said, I filed my lawsuit against her in good faith as she tried to hit me with her car in our employer's parking lot and she also hit me with her lunch bag at work in the hallway. I had witnesses to both incidents who testified in court under oath. The plaintiff now who was the defendant then, made excuses to justify the assault but she did not have a single witness to testify that she did not assault me. For some reason, the judge did not award me any damages probably because I did not have medical bills to support the damages.

You did say in your reply that Small Claims Court may not keep a file from the original case and the original judge may not have made extensive notes, I may have to argue that case again to prove that I had probable cause for filing. That's why I am taking one of my witnesses again, the one who witnessed when plaintiff hit me with her lunch bag. The person who witnessed the car incident just had a baby and had complications with her pregnancy that I don't want to ask her to come to court again on July 31st. She lives an hour away from the court location, it would be hard for her to travel. My lawyer says it is okay if I only bring one witness. What do you think?

Are you familiar with Court Case Citation "Black v Hepner" (1984) 156 CAL.APP 3d 656,658? On my letter to request dismissal, I cited that case to the judge, it didn't help. That court case citation basically states that malicious prosecution is not heard in Small Claims Court. Could you interprete that court case citation to me again? My lawyer advices to bring that case to the judge and my case might be dismissed, but now that I heard from you, I believe the judge won't just dismiss her case.

Thank you so much for any more advices you can give me. This has been very stressful on my part. I feel like my lawyer thru prepaid legal services is not doing the best she could to prepare me for my case. I learned more about my case from you than from my lawyer. Sorry for confusing you a bit.
 
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dcatz

Senior Member
I didn’t expect or intend for this to become an essay, and I’m certainly not beating up on your prepaid legal services attorney. In my experience, they are usually very qualified people or they wouldn’t be invited to participate in extending such services (people don’t like to pay and also lose).

And what I said was that I would not expect a judge to dismiss a case based on a letter, even a letter that provided a “black letter law” citation. The judge may rely on such a ruling to make his/her own, but it would be on the day of the hearing in open court. First, because Small Claims litigants frequently “mis-describe” the true basis for their claim, and the judge has to hear testimony and see evidence to know what it’s “really” about. Second, as stated, the plaintiff is entitled to her “day in court” to try to prove that she has some entitlement, even if, through inexperience, she gave it a wrong name. Third, there is no discovery in CA Small Claims (back to that in a moment). Fourth, an attorney would have real problems for doing what you did – ie. arguing the case to the judge via letter and outside the plaintiff’s presence. It’s called an ex parte communication, and it’s a very definite no, no. Taking the citation to court would have been the right way to proceed, and that’s apparently what your attorney suggested.

That said, I’m not familiar with Black v Hepner" (1984) 156 Cal. App.3d 656,658 and will have to research it and post back. But, if it said that malicious prosecution cases are not to be heard in Small Claims, it wouldn’t surprise me. First, Small Claims is limited in certain respects in the types of cases that it can hear and the remedies that it can provide. Second, the key malicious prosecution case in your state is Sheldon Appel Co. v Albert & Oliker (1989) 47 C3d 863, wherein the CA Supreme Court, in effect, unanimously declined to extend the reach of malicious prosecution cases, resulting in the fact that, today, malicious prosecution is considered a “disfavored cause of action”. Very few civil or criminal cases result in an action for malicious prosecution. This is because it’s so difficult to prove that the defendant initiated or maintained the original case without probable cause and with an improper purpose.

That brings us back to the malice requirement and the fact that discovery is not permitted. As previously stated, malice is hard to prove and normally requires discovery. If discovery is precluded, it’s not unreasonable to preclude cases that normally depend on it. Evidentiary presentations are difficult enough for Small Claims judges without asking them to divine a litigant’s state of mind. If your attorney found a case that extended Sheldon Appel to a preclusion rule in Small Claims, good for her.

Now, a couple of concluding points. One witness is enough, particularly if you have a dispositive citation. If the written ruling said defendant does not owe any money, I would again agree with your attorney – it doesn’t mean you didn’t win. It doesn’t happen very often, but it can happen, and that’s the reason that I asked in my first post. If you want to be sure, either go to the court and look at the case file or call and ask a clerk to tell you. It’s a public record and, at the very least, it will say “judgment for plaintiff (you) and against defendant” or vice versa. Knowing should clear your mind on that point. If you won, refer to earlier comments, if her case is allowed. Finally, I agree with your attorney that the case “sounds” of malicious prosecution. If she’s asking for “punitive damages”, by implication she’s alleging an intentional and/or malicious tort. (Let’s not go down a new, long road; just trust your attorney.) And if she lost the original case, she’s not entitled to her expenses.

Calm down, prepare your case, look into your old case and have your citation ready, don’t get caught up in some “who hit who first” kind of argument, and the Court will do the rest for you.
 
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dcatz

Senior Member
Read Black v. Hepner 156 Cal. App.3d 656, which applied the reasoning of Pace v. Hilcrest Motor Co. 101 Cal. App.3d 476 and said that to permit a malicious prosecution action to be founded on a Small Claims Court proceeding would frustrate the attempt of the legislature in adopting an expeditious and informal means of resolving small disputes.
So now you know what it is, why it’s a hard case to win and why it’s not a cause of action that is heard in Small Claims Court. I hope it has been useful to understand what must be proven for the MP plaintiff to prevail, but I also think that your legal services attorney has served you well. Being effective counsel doesn’t require trying complex litigation or writing appellate briefs when a single citation will suffice.
Good luck and post back to let us know if things went well.
 
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evs3939

Junior Member
Thank you so very much. My lawyer did say to bring that case to court and read it to the judge and if the judge still want to hear the plaintiff's case, then, I will challenge her case by following your advice and my lawyer's.

I was in a meeting all day today at work and I haven't had the chance to call Small Claims Court re my previous case. I will try to call them tomorrow and go from there.

I will keep you posted.
 

evs3939

Junior Member
I called Small Claims Court to ask if the judgment for my previous case was for me or for the defendant. I was put on hold for the longest time by the clerk and she came back with an answer that since the entry of judgment says "defendant does not owe plaintiff any money on the plaintiff's claim", that means that the judgment was for the defendant.

By the way, what does a dispositive citation mean?

Thanks again for your help.
 

dcatz

Senior Member
Without seeing the file, I'd still question whether that clerk was stating a fact or making her own best guess. CA Small Claims file forms are not standardized, but they differ very little from one county to another. She told you what you already knew, but I find it very hard to believe that file does not unequivocally state "judgment for X and against Y" or vice versa someplace. It would be a first my experience, and I'm not convinced.

A dispositive citation - one that in and of itself necessarily controls the disposition of a matter, sometimes also referred to as "black letter law".
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Edit: The more I think about it, the more I'm inclined to suggest that you have your legal services attorney make the same inquiry, because I suspect it's bothering you. Usually, the Court file will have a "Judgment for" line, an "Against" line, a line for "$" or "Amount", a "Costs" line and several lines for notes that the bench officer may wish to add in case of an appeal. I could see "plaintiff to take nothing" in the notes or even on the "Amount" line but, without clearly designating a prevailing party, you're left to interpret the significance of that language for purposes of appeal (a losing defendant can appeal and a losing plaintiff can't). Your attorney and I interpreted that language differently than the clerk did, and that kind of ambiguity shouldn't exist.
 
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evs3939

Junior Member
Thanks so much again.

I think it's best if I go there and see the file myself. I'll try to call my prepaid legal attorney and see if she can call them for me. The problem is, whenever I call her, it goes to the customer service rep first so they can log the call and then, the rep will ask me to wait for the lawyer to return my call which most of the time, takes a day or so. I will be out-of-town on the 26th and 27th for my son's college orientation and if my lawyer doesn't call me back before then, i would only have Monday, July 30th to know the real status of my previous case. The trial is on Tuesday, the 31st.

Yes, it's been bothering me how the judge let the defendant prevail when I had witnesses and she didn't.
 

dcatz

Senior Member
If you want to PM me today, give me the case number, confirm the court and, if you're willing, the names of the parties, I'll call.
Can't guarantee a more complete answer, but I can try.
It's up to you.
This is very atypical. You can investigate yourself, and I invite you to, if it's not an inconvenience. Beyond that, unless you PM, I can only tell you that conclusion is based on extensive personal experience.
 
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evs3939

Junior Member
I can't thank you enough. I'm home right now and I won't be back to work until Monday. That is where I kept my file. I will post back for sure Monday with the detailed info of my previous case.

DCATZ, what is PM?
 

dcatz

Senior Member
PM is private messaging. I've opened it up for you.

Use the forum directory to access it.

I don't use this function much myself, so it's the blind leading the blind. Post here if you have problems, and we'll work through them.
 

evs3939

Junior Member
Thanks. Where do I find the forum directory? Sorry, I tried to look for it myself, but I couldn't find it.
 

evs3939

Junior Member
I think I was able to figure it out. I opened my PM also today. I will PM you as soon as I get my file from work. I maybe able to go to our employer's building today to get my file.
 

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