From Casetext: Smarter Legal Research

Kuang v. Sawyer

California Court of Appeals, Second District, First Division
Aug 14, 2007
No. B188747 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 14, 2007)

Opinion


CHARLES KUANG et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. PHILIP SAWYER et al., Defendants and Appellants. B188747 California Court of Appeal, Second District, First Division August 14, 2007

NOT TO BE PUBLISHED

APPEAL from a judgment of the Superior Court of Los Angeles County. Super. Ct. No. BC 323572, Aurelio N. Munoz, Judge.

The Law Corporation of Patrick “Rick” Lund, Patrick “Rick” Lund, Nader R. Ghosheh and Giavanna C. DePrima for Defendants and Appellants.

MacCarley & Rosen and Mark MacCarley for Plaintiffs and Respondents.

ROTHSCHILD, J.

Philip and Carolyn Sawyer appeal from a judgment entered on part of a complaint against them. Because the judgment did not dispose of the entire complaint or any part of the Sawyers’ cross-complaint, it is not final. We therefore dismiss the appeal.

BACKGROUND

Because the record on appeal contains none of the evidence that was introduced at trial, our summary of the facts is drawn entirely from the parties’ assertions in their pleadings and briefs.

The Sawyers own real property in Los Angeles. Plaintiffs Charles Kuang, Wayne Pemberton, Manuel Melgoza, Shiann Chen, Macario Becerra, and Oi Sau Moy (as trustee of the Oi Sau Moy Trust) own real property near the Sawyers’ property. Plaintiffs sued the Sawyers to quiet title to an easement located along an alley on the Sawyers’ property. Plaintiffs also sought an injunction requiring the Sawyers to remove a fence they had erected to block the easement, and prohibiting them from blocking it in the future. The Sawyers cross-complained against all plaintiffs, seeking to quiet title to the alley against plaintiffs’ claimed easement.

On November 21, 2005, after a bifurcated bench trial that appears to have lasted more than one week, the trial court entered judgment in favor of plaintiffs on part of their complaint. The judgment makes no reference to the Sawyers’ cross-complaint, and our review of the trial court’s docket reveals that proceedings on the cross-complaint continued after the judgment was entered. Moreover, the judgment does not purport to resolve all of the claims in plaintiffs’ complaint—it expressly reserves issues of costs and damages “until such time that the (bifurcated) trial on the damages issue of the Complaint is heard by the Court.”

DISCUSSION

The Sawyers have appealed from a judgment that does not purport to resolve (1) all of the claims in plaintiffs’ complaint, or (2) any of the claims in the Sawyers’ cross-complaint. “[A]n appeal cannot be taken from a judgment that fails to complete the disposition of all the causes of action between the parties even if the causes of action disposed of by the judgment have been ordered to be tried separately, or may be characterized as ‘separate and independent’ from those remaining.” (Morehart v. County of Santa Barbara (1994) 7 Cal.4th 725, 743; see also Angell v. Superior Court (1999) 73 Cal.App.4th 691, 698 [unresolved cross-complaint renders judgment on complaint nonappealable]; Plaza Tulare v. Tradewell Stores, Inc. (1989) 207 Cal.App.3d 522, 523-524 [judgment on bifurcated issues is not appealable if other issues remain to be tried].)

The fact that the judgment grants a permanent injunction does not affect our conclusion. Although subdivision (a)(6) of Code of Civil Procedure section 904.1 refers to “an order granting or dissolving an injunction, or refusing to grant or dissolve an injunction,” case law interprets that provision as applying only to pendente lite injunctions. (Art Movers, Inc. v. Ni West, Inc. (1992) 3 Cal.App.4th 640, 645-646, 649; see also Engle v. City of Oroville (1965) 238 Cal.App.2d 266, 269 [order granting injunction after bifurcated trial on equitable issues, when damages claims remained to be tried, was not appealable]; McCarty v. Macy & Co. (1957) 153 Cal.App.2d 837, 839-840 [similar].)

The judgment therefore is not appealable. We accordingly must dismiss the Sawyers’ appeal.

DISPOSITION

The appeal is dismissed. Respondents shall recover their costs on appeal.

We concur: VOGEL, Acting P. J. JACKSON, J.

(Judge of the L. A. S.Ct. assigned by the Chief Justice pursuant to art. VI, § 6 of the Cal. Const.)


Summaries of

Kuang v. Sawyer

California Court of Appeals, Second District, First Division
Aug 14, 2007
No. B188747 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 14, 2007)
Case details for

Kuang v. Sawyer

Case Details

Full title:CHARLES KUANG et al., Plaintiffs and Respondents, v. PHILIP SAWYER et al.…

Court:California Court of Appeals, Second District, First Division

Date published: Aug 14, 2007

Citations

No. B188747 (Cal. Ct. App. Aug. 14, 2007)