GOING TO TRIAL IN CALIFORNIA

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Remember:  READ EVERYTHING.  Don't employ details that don't apply to your case, and be sure to incorporate the details that DO apply to your case.

 

Read up on what each objection means.  I will post some explanatory materials as well.

 

 

 

More OBJECTION materials (the material in red is the objection and the material in black are the authorities and reasoning for objection):

 

REDACTED CCP 98 OBJECTION 061413.doc

 

REDACTED OBJECTION - DECLARATION IN LIEU OF TESTIMONY 061413.docx

 

REDACTED OBJECTION - BILLS OF SALE & REDACTED LOAN SCHEDULE.docOBJECTIONS.docx

 

REDACTED OBJECTION - ACCOUNT STATEMENTS & CHARGE OFF STATEMENT.doc

 

REDACTED OBJECTION - ACCEPTANCE CERTIFICATE AND CARDMEMBER AGREEMENT.doc

 

REDACTED OBJECTION - AFFIDAVIT OF SALE.doc

 

OBJECTIONS.docx (NOTE:  The red/black rule does not apply here.  This is a list of probable objections that I developed and made notes on as to which pieces of evidence and/or testimony each objection applied to.  It is a good list of objections to familiarize oneself with.)

 

People v Dorsey Opinion.docx

 

ELKINS CASE.docx

 

EVIDENCE CODE 1271.docx (NOTE: Also has info on Dorsey case.)

 

California-Trial-Objections.doc

 

objections_to_evidence_and_testimony.pdf

 

Okay, that's enough for now.  I have a ton of other materials, but I'm trying to pick out the stuff that I consider "must have" and "must know."

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

REDACTED OBJECTION TO CALLING ATTORNEY TO STAND.docx

REDACTED OBJECTION TO CALLING DEFENDANT TO THE STAND.docx

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

While I think of it, as basic as it gets, a pleading paper template can be a pain to find.  I know I had to dig.

 

Here you go:

 

BLANK PLEADING.doc

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Motion for Peremptory Challenge (170.6) and Declaration in Support templates are attached.

 

They should be in your trial binder ... and should only be used as a last resort.

 

MOTION FOR PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE.doc

 

DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF MOTION FOR PEREMPTORY CHALLENGE.doc

 

[calawyer 1,848]

Be prepared with a 170.6 notice.  I will post one.  No one here told me about it, but i found about this in my research.  You have it all set to go and in your trial binder.  If the judge is slapping you around and looking like they are the plaintiff's *****, then you can announce you wish to file a 170.6 notice and motion for a new trial.  170.6 recuses the judge.  Now, that's going to piss the **** out of that judge, and your new judge isn't likely to be any too happy to get your case, so use it ONLY as a last resort.

 

170.6 is a powerful tool.  However, you can't wait until you get slapped around to use it.  You have to read CCP 170.6 itself to see the time limitations because they differ under varying circumstances.  Nothing good comes from an unsuccessful attempt to disqualify a judge.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

 

Be prepared with a 170.6 notice.  I will post one.  No one here told me about it, but i found about this in my research.  You have it all set to go and in your trial binder.  If the judge is slapping you around and looking like they are the plaintiff's *****, then you can announce you wish to file a 170.6 notice and motion for a new trial.  170.6 recuses the judge.  Now, that's going to piss the **** out of that judge, and your new judge isn't likely to be any too happy to get your case, so use it ONLY as a last resort.

 

170.6 is a powerful tool.  However, you can't wait until you get slapped around to use it.  You have to read CCP 170.6 itself to see the time limitations because they differ under varying circumstances.  Nothing good comes from an unsuccessful attempt to disqualify a judge.

 

Listen to Calawyer.  In some courts, you have to file before even a hearing, if you're going to file at all.  If you know you're about to step into a "plaintiff's judge", that would seem to me to be the best time to use it.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

I don't know as it matters or not, but "Like" the posts that mean something to you.  I'd like to think that moves them up to where they are more easily found by people who need the information.  I want to pass this on and make certain that people who need the information and assistance get it.  Thanks.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

I had a question raised about memorizing objections which then led to how my trial binder was organized.  I think the answer to that could be useful to others as well:

 

 

There was no way I could memorize those individually for each piece of evidence.

 

So, I had those all printed and in my binder.

 

DO separate your binder into sections.  Use tab dividers to flip more quickly to each section.  I couldn't afford tabs so I tore up post-its into strips, and taped them to pages to use as tabs.

 

1) I had Opening Statement on top,

 

2) Objections came next (with the Objections cheat sheet first, followed by the objections for each evidence, followed by those essays on objections I posted. 

 

3) The third section was then the Objections to Calling Attorney to Stand and Calling Defendant to Stand.

 

4) The fourth section was the CCP 98 objection

 

5) Next came the Rule 3.1332 Objection to Continuance.

 

6) Sixth was the Dorsey argument and a copy of the Dorsey opinion.

 

7) Then came the General Objection information (materials about Objections themselves)

 

8) Then came the Questions for Plaintiff's Witness(es)

 

9) Next was the Closing Statement Checklist

 

10) Next was a section called Authorities where I had the breakdown information on the case law I had cited as well as breakdowns on what the evidence codes and other statues all meant so I could look them up if need be.

 

11) Then came a tab for Witnesses and Attorneys where I had printed out all the information and photographs, etc. that I could find about plaintiff's attorney and proposed witnesses.

 

In the pockets of the binder, I kept a backup set of loose evidence objections as well as copies of those documents I felt I might need to hand out, like the Rule 3.1332 objection.

 

In my bag, I had copies of every document filed and served and every piece of discovery and every letter ... in other words everything about the case was in there if I happened to need it. 

 

*  *  *

 

When a piece of evidence came up (as in plaintiff mentioning it or trying to submit it), I immediately objected.  "Objection, Your Honor."  I didn't have to think whether or not I would be objecting.  Object to everything.  THEN worry about looking up what your objections are.  If you get nervous and are flipping like crazy for the right page, start off with "Objection, Your Honor.  Defendant objects for reason of ... hearsay ...."  Just speak slowly.  Don't sweat it.  You'll have the page by then.  Just relax.  The judge knows you're under pressure.  Odds are he'll be patient.  If he or she isn't, then simply, say, "Apologies, Your Honor, I'm not an attorney and I am looking up that document and my objections."  (I didn't have to do that, and I did take what seemed like an eternity to find each objection sheet, but the court knew I wasn't wasting time and was very patient.  If plaintiff complains, then they're just trying to harass you, and the court is likely to see that and not look favorably on them.  Just be humble about it.

 

After saying "Objection, Your Honor," I then flipped through the binder to find the page for the particular piece of evidence and I simply read aloud to the court what my objections were.

 

That's the material in red.

 

I never had to go to the black material, as the judge knew all the evidence codes to which they belonged.

 

It saves you a lot of worry and work.

 

You should know what CCP 98 is about, CCP 96, and CCP 1987(a).

 

Familiarize yourself with the key cases that are in your MIL ... like Elkins.  You don't have to memorize them, just be able to recognize the names and look them up in the case authorities sheet (like the one I made and posted). 

 

Your briefs will do most of your argument.  In your declaration in support of your trial brief, I recommend that you do let the court know that you are NOT an attorney, and that you therefore ask for the court's indulgence.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

I just discovered the vote to rate this topic feature at the top of the page.  If you found anything in this thread useful or think it could be useful to someone headed toward trial in a collection case, please vote high and positively in the "stars" at the upper-left corner at the beginning of any page of this thread.  I'm hoping that will bump this thread up in the page displays so that people who need the information in here can find it.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Okay, the next key documents in my case were: 1) Defendant's Trial Brief; and 2) Declaration of Defendant (in support of Defendant's Trial Brief).

 

Redacted copies are attached hereto.  Again, if someone were to try to use these as templates, they would have to use what applies to their case and omit what does not and add the details that are unique to their case.

 

REDACTED TRIAL BRIEF.doc

 

REDACTED DECLARATION IN SUPPORT OF DEFENDANT'S TRIAL BRIEF.doc

[nasturtium 5]

@HomelessInCalifornia,

 

You might get some offers to work for attorneys. 

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

@HomelessInCalifornia,

 

You might get some offers to work for attorneys. 

God knows I could use the work.

[Anon Amos 2,247]

 

 

 

 

  THEN worry about looking up what your objections are.  If you get nervous and are flipping like crazy for the right page, start off with "Objection, Your Honor.  Defendant objects for reason of ... hearsay ...."  Just speak slowly.  Don't sweat it.  You'll have the page by then. 

 

 

Your doing some good work homeless. I will add: Use color coded tabs on the sides of the pages. Red tab for critical stuff, like proper grounds for objections.

[Spikey 384]

I did exactly what homeless did, binder, tabs, all very useful for staying organized under pressure.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Okay, today, I am posting redacted versions of PLAINTIFF'S Trial Brief, PLAINTIFF'S Opposition to Defendant's MIL's, and PLAINTIFF'S Proposed Judgment. 

 

Obviously, these are NOT anything a prospective defendant would be interested in using as templates.  However, these are useful to read and see and know and research what kind of arguments that Plaintiff is likely to drop in your lap on the day of trial.

 

These documents were handed to me 2 hours before my trial.  I kid you not.

 

As you can see, plaintiff tried to bundle both MIL's into one and argued against them jointly.

 

Plaintiff DID succeed in beating the MIL re 454.  Plaintiff failed on the MIL re 98.

 

That was NOT the end however.  Plaintiff was then given leeway to try to get evidence admitted by other means -- which meant Plaintiff was left with Defendant as the only witness who might authenticate anything.  Plaintiff put me on the stand.  Plaintiff asked me to read the dates and addresses on the alleged Account Statements and alleged Charge Off Statement.  I was asked if I had seen any of these documents PRIOR to litigation, which I had not, so I answered "No."  At which point, the judge asked if the plaintiff had anything further.  Plaintiff said no.  Judge asked if I had anything further to say.  I said, "Your Honor, Defense moves for Judgment in Favor of the Defendant." 

 

The Judge granted my motion.

 

NOTE:  Plaintiff's Trial Brief named an entirely new alleged "Original Creditor."  This new entity was never named in their complaint or in any discovery or in any pleading or ...anywhere at all.  Plaintiff never amended their complaint to change the identity of the alleged "Original Creditor."  I was set to object to the trial brief as irrelevant on this basis.

 

READ.  ALWAYS LOOK FOR ERRORS AND INCONSISTENCIES AND MISREPRESENTATIONS AND FLAWS IN ALL EVIDENCE, PLEADINGS, CORRESPONDENCE, AND COMMUNICATIONS.  ALWAYS.

REDACTED PLAINTIFF'S OPPOSITION TO DEFENDANT'S MIL'S.pdf

 

REDACTED PLAINTIFF'S TRIAL BRIEF.pdf

 

REDACTED PLAINTIFF'S PROPOSED JUDGMENT.pdf

 

 

[doublethefun9941 68]

Edit

[doublethefun9941 68]

Thanks again Homeless for posting your files and observations. Your helping a lot of people.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Thanks again Homeless for posting your files and observations. Your helping a lot of people.

I hope so.  I want to help as many as I can.

 

These JDB's are jackals.  They hurt people and allow their greed to make them feel justified in doing so.  May god have mercy on their souls. In the meantime, they have to lose.

 

If I can help their targets, I will.

[Anon Amos 2,247]

  May god have mercy on their souls. In the meantime, they have to lose.

 

 

Strike that, I'm hard press to find one of your comments I disagree with, but; may God give them what they have coming. But in the meantime yes, they have to lose.

[bluelife 29]

 

 

 

NOTE:  Plaintiff's Trial Brief named an entirely new alleged "Original Creditor."  This new entity was never named in their complaint or in any discovery or in any pleading or ...anywhere at all.  Plaintiff never amended their complaint to change the identity of the alleged "Original Creditor."  I was set to object to the trial brief as irrelevant on this basis.

 

 

 

 

How was this addressed, what happened regarding the OC change, was it mentioned or it did not matter?

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

 

 

How was this addressed, what happened regarding the OC change, was it mentioned or it did not matter?

 

I never had to address it.  The court's immediate concern was the admissibility of the evidence.  Of course, once that issue was taken care of, the Plaintiff had nothing with which to substantiate its case, and therefore I moved for immediate Judgment.  My arsenal was still full ... I never had to individually tear apart the evidence (and there were flaws, omissions, and inconsistencies in all of them, so I was fairly confident) and I never had to address Plaintiff's counterarguments to my trial brief in their trial brief.  So, the issue of the new "Original Creditor" alleged by Plaintiff never came up.  I have no clue what they were thinking.  The only thing I can think of is that they were desperate coming into trial.  The Sellers in their alleged Bills of Sale did not include their "Original Creditor" alleged in their Complaint, but the new "Original Creditor" also did not match any of the Sellers on their alleged Bills of Sale or in their alleged Affidavit of Sale.  Their new alleged "Original Creditor" did not even vaguely resemble anything in any other document either.  It was a truly bizarre move, and I think they are lucky the case did not get into that, as it could only have given them further embarrassment.

[Amerikaner83 1,026]

This has been a long journey for you...a big journey as well.  I am amazed at the difference in tone of your posts from the beginning of this tread until now. 

 

You did incredible!  Congratulations!

[Seadragon 840]

Excellent work. a little off topic. why don't you offer to take up the Califonia's gold franchise. I think you would be a great traveling host. Huel was making like 2500 per episode with one camera man.

 

You are very good at persuasion, that and your brief is definitely written at the PHd level. Just thinking how very good it would be to start a law career.

[Anon Amos 2,247]

Excellent work. a little off topic. why don't you offer to take up the Califonia's gold franchise.

 

????

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

Excellent work. a little off topic. why don't you offer to take up the Califonia's gold franchise. I think you would be a great traveling host. Huel was making like 2500 per episode with one camera man.

 

You are very good at persuasion, that and your brief is definitely written at the PHd level. Just thinking how very good it would be to start a law career.

Huel Howser is a bit of a local hero out here.  I don't know as the producers of "California Gold" are planning on continuing and looking for a new host.  I doubt it, but that is the kind of project that can be easily replicated.  I would certainly be up to it -- although something along the lines of Anthony Bourdain's "No Reservations" would be even more to my taste (world travel, good food and drink, new cultures).

 

Thanks for the compliments.  I've written screenplays, and short stories, and teleplays, and was working on the last chapter of my first novel when all this went down.  I have multiple undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities and sciences, so I think all of that was an asset in writing the briefs ... along with incorporating all the superb advice and arguments and experience that came my way from the people here and from research and adding in my own observations and arguments on the evidence presented.

 

Calawyer was so profoundly helpful in getting me focused and organized  and with his commentary and of course Seadragon, Rivertime, Aticnib, AnonAmos, Helpme, and Mutedebt and many others were all guiding lights.

 

If I can ever figure out how to present my memo of costs and judgment to recoup my losses (it's driving me nuts), I will be so glad to be done with this case and to return to completing my novel.

[HomelessInCalifornia 307]

I have been working on the Memorandum of Costs and [Proposed] Judgment for Defendant.

 

I haven't received any notice from the court or opposition, but I'm going to take the trial date as the start of my 15 day period in which to file and serve these.

 

From what I have read of the code, it seems as if for a propria persona defendant in a fee waiver case, the only recoverable costs are:

 

1) Service;

2) Exhibits; and

3) Other (at the court's discretion).

 

There were no filing or appearance fees.

 

Although I have not received a bill for service from the Sheriff's Dept., I don't wish to get dinged for their $35/attempt fee and 3 attempts.  They do show a charge on their papers and on their online documents for completion of service, so I am claiming the $105 for their service of process.  As I read the code, it indicates recovery of costs can be claimed whether already paid for or not.

 

I am claiming costs for all the exhibits to the pleadings and declarations and for the handouts I prepared for trial.

 

Under the "Other" category of the memorandum of costs, I am charging for court service delivery & filing with return trip (basing that fee on local courier service rates for that distance). 

 

Also under "Other", I am charging Consultation Services for document review and cite checking to cover the balance of my costs.

 

I am planning on attaching a breakdown of the costs to the Memorandum of Costs as an Exhibit to help the judge in his review and to hopefully forestall a Motion to Tax Costs.

 

Let me know if this all looks right, please.  I'd really like to get this filed with the court and done with by Monday.

 

REDACTED PROPOSED JUDGMENT FOR DEFENDANT 062013.docx

 

REDACTED MEMORANDUM OF COSTS 062013.pdf

 

REDACTED COSTS 062013.docx