Petitioner Failed To Cite Any Legal Authority To Support Her Contention That The Trial Court Abused Its Discretion By Awarding Fees And Provided No Reporter’s Transcript Of The Evidentiary Hearing.
We have posted many times before on the importance of providing an adequate record on appeal and supporting arguments with legal authority and citations to the record. Failure to do so will almost certainly doom an appeal.
In Reed v. Edison, Case No. B297816 (2d Dist., Div. 3 December 11, 2020) (unpublished), petitioner sought a civil harassment restraining order, under Code Civ. Proc., § 527.6, against respondent with claims that respondent was a friend of a neighbor tenant and had locked her out of her Los Angeles apartment and threatened to kill her if she tried to reenter. Respondent opposed and sought $2,000 in attorney fees – claiming he was a licensed real estate broker retained by Fannie Mae to market the property, had never met petitioner, and was not on the property on the date she claimed the incident occurred. Further, respondent’s attorney declared, petitioner was “a serial pro per litigant” who appeared to actually live in Joshua Tree. The trial court held an evidentiary hearing, then denied the petition with prejudice and dismissed the case – finding no basis for the issuance of a permanent restraining order – and awarded respondent the $2,000 he sought in attorney fees.
Petitioner appealed, but the 2/3 DCA affirmed. Petitioner failed to provide an adequate record on appeal – proceeding only with a clerk’s transcript and failing to include a reporter’s transcript, or suitable substitute, of the evidentiary hearing. Additionally, petitioner forfeited her arguments that she was not given sufficient time to address respondent’s claims and that the court abused its discretion by awarding fees because she failed to cite any supporting legal authority.
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