$2,890 In Costs Of Proof Sanctions Affirmed On Appeal.
We have blogged quite a bit on costs of proof sanctions under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420, with cases collected on our home page under the category “Requests For Admission.” Most involve situations where facts were proved contrary to RFA denials at an actual trial.
However, we would refer our readers to Nicolosi Distributing, Inc. v. Annex Santa Clara, Inc., Case No. A144736 (1st Dist., Div. 2 Oct. 13, 2016) (unpublished) for an unpublished decision which applied costs of proof sanctions in a summary judgment context—one we have not seen before. There, in an automotive parts distribution dispute, a defendant won summary judgment against suing plaintiff, garnering $2,890 in costs of proof sanctions based on two unjustified denials of two material facts. Defendant did prove these facts as a matter of law in a summary judgment proceeding, with both the trial and appellate courts finding that this “paperless trial” context did not make any difference. Makes sense, given that a summary judgment is the equivalent of a trial and section 2033.420 does not limit costs of proof sanctions to just trial situations.
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