California Legal Brief

The Rule of Watson v. Professional Business Management Corporation is that a nonsignatory defendant cannot compel arbitration based solely on unverified boilerplate allegations in a complaint that it is a "successor, agent and/or alter ego" of a signatory party, under circumstances where the nonsignatory defendant denies the agency relationship and provides no factual evidence to establish its connection to the signatory.

The Rule of David Kostandian v. American Honda Motor Co., Inc., et al. is that a party moving to compel arbitration meets its initial burden by presenting a copy of the arbitration agreement and stating its terms verbatim, without needing to prove the agreement's validity or provide evidentiary support for corporate business names, under circumstances where the opposing party fails to dispute the agreement's existence.

The Rule of Myers v. Department of Motor Vehicles is that body-worn camera video evidence showing an officer failed to continuously observe a DUI suspect for 15 minutes before administering a chemical breath test successfully rebuts the Evidence Code section 664 presumption of compliance with Title 17 regulations, under circumstances where the video objectively demonstrates the officer left the suspect alone in a patrol car with doors closed during the observation period.

The Rule of 360 So Reeves, LLC v. Jeff Dutton is that a lessor's noncompliance with Civil Code section 1962 is an affirmative defense for which the lessee bears the burden of proof, under circumstances where a successor landlord allegedly failed to provide proper notice of change of ownership and service of process information to a residential tenant.

The Rule of Sam Cleare et al. v. Superior Court of Contra Costa County is that a school district cannot claim impossibility as a defense to teacher credentialing requirements without first exhaustively pursuing all statutory alternatives, including requesting waivers from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing and State Board of Education, under circumstances where the district acknowledges non-compliance with teacher vacancy and substitute teacher limitations.

The Rule of People v. Tyus is that at a Penal Code section 1172.6 evidentiary hearing, the prosecution must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that a petitioner is guilty of murder under current law—it is not the petitioner's burden to prove an alternate murder theory existed, under circumstances where the petitioner has established a prima facie case for relief and was not the actual killer.