Request For Admissions: $287,040 In Fees And $7,448.05 In Expert Fees/Costs As RFA “Cost-Of-Proof” Sanctions Sustained On Appeal

 

Trial Court Had Jurisdiction To Rule On Matter Post-Trial During Appeal Pendency.

     Plaintiff/cross-defendant prevailed in a bitterly contested real estate dispute after a jury trial as against defendant/cross-complainant. Then, after defendant/cross-complainant denied five key RFAs requiring plaintiff/cross-defendant to prove otherwise at trial, the lower court awarded prevailing plaintiff/cross-defendant RFA “cost-of-proof” sanctions in the amounts of $287,040 (attorney’s fees) and $7,448.05 (expert fees/costs) under CCP § 2033.420(b)(3).

     The RFA sanctions held up on appeal in Farhoomand v. Caine, Case No. D064302 (4^th Dist., Div. 1 June 25, 2015) (unpublished).

     The denied RFAs were of substantial importance, such that cost-of-proof sanctions were in order. The lower court had jurisdiction, post-trial, to rule on the sanctions request given that the proceeding was ancillary or collateral to the appeal. (Varian Medical Systems, Inc. v. Delfino, 35 Cal.4^th 180, 190-191 (2005).) Losing plaintiff also ignored a “vast amount of evidence,” including her own handwritten documents, which contradicted her claims and affected her credibility with respect to the RFA subject matters. No abuse of discretion in affirming the large award, under the circumstances.