Equitable Circumstances Prevailed in this One.
Boyko v Millican, Case No. G046746 (4th Dist., Div. 3 May 6, 2013) (unpublished), a 3-0 decision authored by Justice Ikola, is a case demonstrating that equities will often times dictate routine costs decisions, especially where the lower court had a paradox on costs issues recognized as material by the appellate court.
In this one, a single particular defendant--found to have committed a fraud and a tortfeasor named by plaintiff--was ultimately found not to have caused plaintiff's damages. The trial court did not grant defendant routine costs. This determination was affirmed on appeal. Defendant was unified in interest with an attorney defendant found liable to plaintiff for damages. This was enough to find that plaintiff achieved his results in a victory against the co-defendant, sufficient reason to deny routine costs to the unified "losing" co-defendant.
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