Christie v. City of El Centro

• Decision Date: 13 January 2006
• Docket Number: No. D044792.,D044792.
• Citation: 135 Cal.App.4th 767,37 Cal.Rptr.3d 718
• Parties: Ben Charles CHRISTIE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. The CITY OF EL CENTRO et al., Defendants and Appellants.
• Court: California Court of Appeals Court of Appeals

37 Cal.Rptr.3d 718

135 Cal.App.4th 767

Ben Charles CHRISTIE, Plaintiff and Respondent, v. The CITY OF EL CENTRO et al., Defendants and Appellants.

No. D044792.

Court of Appeal, Fourth District, Division 1.

January 13, 2006.

McCormick & Mitchell, John P. McCormick and Deborah K. Garvin, San Diego, for Defendants and Appellants.

Singleton and Associates and Terry Singleton, San Diego, for Plaintiff and Respondent.

NARES, J.

In this action for false arrest and wrongful imprisonment brought by Ben Charles Christie, the court set aside a nonsuit and dismissal in favor of the City of El Centro, the El Centro Police Department, and El Centro Police Officers Ray Bonillas and Efran Coronel (collectively, the City). The court granted a new trial for "irregularity of the proceedings" because the judge who granted nonsuit, the Honorable Barrett Foerster, had discussed the case with a previously disqualified judge, the Honorable Jeffrey Jones. The court found Judge Foerster disqualified to rule on the nonsuit motion as a result of the discussion, and the resulting dismissal was set aside as void.

On appeal, the City asserts (1) there was no legal or factual basis for granting the motion for new trial based upon irregularity in the proceedings, and (2) there was no showing of prejudice or denial of a fair trial to Christie sufficient to support a new trial.

We conclude that (1) because Judge Foerster was disqualified at the time he granted the City's motion for nonsuit, that ruling was void and must be vacated regardless of a showing of prejudice; and (2) even if a showing of prejudice or denial of a fair trial were necessary, that showing has been met by Christie. Accordingly, we affirm the order granting a new trial and remand the matter for a new trial on Christie's claims.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND¹

A. Facts Underlying Christie's Claim

On November 23, 1999, Stephanie Hernandez, the wife of an El Centro police officer, stopped her pickup truck in a lane of travel in the parking lot at a Costco in El Centro, California. Hernandez was waiting for the closest parking space to the store in that row to become available. Christie entered the same lane. He stopped his truck behind two smaller cars that were waiting behind Hernandez's pickup. While he was waiting, the two smaller vehicles between himself and Hernandez passed her vehicle to the right. Christie asserts that he then tried to drive his vehicle around Hernandez's vehicle on the right side and at that point his truck slightly contacted her bumper on the right side. He also contends that the impact was so slight that her vehicle did not move and no damage resulted to either vehicle.

Christie then honked his horn to try to get her to move, but Hernandez remained stopped in front of him. He exited his truck and went up to her vehicle to request her to move. However, she rolled up her windows up, turned her back to him and began talking on her cell phone. Christie went back to his car and waited, along with other vehicles behind him, until a couple came out of the store with their groceries, loaded them into the vehicle parked in the first space and left. Hernandez pulled into the vacated space and parked. According to Christie, he waited close to 20 minutes before the first space opened up and Hernandez parked her vehicle. Christie then proceeded to the tire shop to have a tire fixed and went into the Costco to do some shopping.

In the meantime, Hernandez called the El Centro Police Department. She identified herself as "352sA," shorthand for police officer No. 352's wife. She also gave police a description of Christie's vehicle, its colors, and its license plate number, described where it was parked, and indicated where she would be waiting for them. Hernandez told police that Christie had rammed her car several times with increasing force. According to Hernandez, Christie then approached her vehicle in a threatening manner, and she was afraid for herself as well as the safety of her children and niece and nephew, who were also in the truck. Officers Coronel and Bonillas arrived at the scene and took her statement, which again related the ramming incident and her fear.

When Officers Coronel and Bonillas arrived at the Costco, Christie was inside shopping, and Hernandez was waiting outside. As Christie was shopping, he was approached by Officer Bonillas who told him he needed to talk to him about the incident where he "rammed a woman three times." Christie told Officer Bonillas that there had been no ramming and that he had only accidentally contacted Hernandez's bumper once, and there was no damage to her vehicle. Officer Bonillas then escorted Christie out of the store.

Christie watched as the police officers conversed with Hernandez in Spanish. According to Hernandez, she told the officers that her truck was at first tapped by Christie as he tried to get around her. However, he then backed up directly behind her and rammed her truck hard three times with his truck. Hernandez claimed that the force of the impacts were so strong that they made her vehicle rock and she feared for her life and the lives of her passengers.

Mr. Armistead, a passenger in Christie's vehicle, was interviewed by Officer Bonillas. He told Officer Bonillas that the vehicles' bumpers touched only once and it was accidental. He also confirmed that Hernandez had blocked the lane of travel and they had been unable to pass her.

Both Hernandez's and Christie's trucks had chrome bumpers that were in perfect condition before the incident. Officer Bonillas examined Hernandez's vehicle and claimed he found an area where dust had been disturbed. He took photographs of the bumper. Officer Bonillas also interviewed another passenger in Christie's car, Bobby Camp. Officer Coronel prepared a police report of the incident, wherein he stated that Christie and his passengers had all confessed to Christie purposefully striking Hernandez's vehicle. Officer Coronel interviewed the 10-year-old niece and 14-year-old nephew of Hernandez, who were passengers in her vehicle. However, according to Christie, none of their statements were recorded in the police report. According to Christie, both of these witnesses stated when interviewed that they did not see, feel or hear anyone ramming Hernandez's vehicle.

Christie was arrested and taken to jail. He was strip searched, and remained in jail for six days. According to Christie, because of his incarceration, he was unable to attend the planned grand opening of his restaurant in San Felipe, Baja California, on Thanksgiving Day.

B. The Criminal Trial

At Christie's arraignment, he was offered a plea bargain to reduce the charges to disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor. Christie refused the plea offer and went to trial on charges of assault with a deadly weapon, assault, and reckless driving. At trial, Officer Coronel testified that the prosecutor sent him to interview the two witness passengers in Hernandez's vehicle. He conducted the interview but never gave a report to the prosecutor. The pictures police took of Hernandez's bumper were not produced at trial. Officers Coronel and Bonilla testified at trial that Christie and his passenger Armistead both admitted that Christie had intentionally struck Hernandez's vehicle. Officer Bonillas testified that he had located disturbed dust in the center of Hernandez's bumper.

After presentation of the evidence, the jury deliberated for approximately one hour, and then acquitted Christie of all charges.

C. The Civil Suit and Trial

In November 2000 Christie filed this action against the City, asserting causes of action for assault and battery, false arrest, false imprisonment, malicious prosecution, violation of civil rights, conspiracy, negligence and infliction of emotional distress, and his wife Joan filed a claim for loss of consortium. On November 22, 2000, Christie filed a peremptory challenge to the first judge assigned to the matter, Judge Jones.

The matter went to trial before Judge Foerster in March 2004. At the conclusion of the presentation of evidence in the case, Judge Foerster granted the City's motion for nonsuit, finding that Hernandez's report to police provided probable cause for the arrest, thereby barring all of Christie's causes of action as a matter of law. On April 7, 2004, the court filed a formal order dismissing Christie's action with prejudice.

D. The Motion for New Trial

On April 26, 2004, Christie filed a motion for new trial, asserting that the court erred in granting the motion for nonsuit because his evidence, viewed in its most favorable light, demonstrated (1) a prima facie case of a violation of his federal constitutional rights; (2) the City had not met its burden of proving probable cause; and (3) he was entitled to a jury trial on his malicious prosecution claim even if the officers had probable cause for the initial arrest. The hearing on the motion for new trial was held on May 17, 2004.

During the hearing on the new trial motion, counsel for Christie told Judge Foerster that he was informed and believed that Judge Foerster had consulted with Judge Jones prior to granting the motion for nonsuit and that Christie had previously filed a peremptory challenge against Judge Jones. Counsel argued that if that occurred, the motion for new trial should be granted on that basis as well.

The court did not respond to this information on the record. However, after taking the motion for new trial under submission, Judge Foerster issued a written disclosure wherein he acknowledged that Judge Jones had been disqualified and that he had spoken with him concerning "the law and procedures that might be applicable to [the] matter." He further stated that he was not aware of the disqualification when he spoke to Judge Jones, and neither was Judge Jones. Judge Foerster also stated, "Judge Jones did not advise me as to how this case should be decided. In arriving at my decision...