Defendant Was Victor Both Below and On Appeal.
In our March 25, 2009 post, we explored Krug v. Maschmeier, 172 Cal.App.4th 796 (2009), which held that a winning defendant in a civil harassment proceeding could be awarded attorney’s fees in the discretion of the lower court. Now, an appellate decision has applied this to affirm a small fee award as well as award appellate sanctions against the unsuccessful plaintiff.
Ray v. Kent, Case No. B217771 (2d Dist., Div. 2 Feb. 7, 2011) (unpublished) was a situation where a plaintiff bringing a civil harassment proceeding lost, with the lower court later awarding the winning defendant $1,000 in attorney’s fees under Code of Civil Procedure section 527.6(i). Krug held that a prevailing party under this section could include a prevailing defendant.
The losing plaintiff appealed, but lost yet again. The deferential substantial evidence standard demonstrated that the denial of the harassment proceeding was justified, as was the lower court’s award of fees in favor of defendant.
Winning defendant also sought appellate sanctions for a frivolous appeal against plaintiff, requesting sanctions of $6,375. The appellate court agreed that the appeal was without foundation, pointing to numerous extensions and the eventual filing of a 3 page appellate brief that ignored numerous appellate standards of practice. The sanctions for this appeal? Losing plaintiff, who was in pro per, was ordered to pay defendant $1,000 in sanctions for filing a frivolous appeal.
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