Dowell v. Superior Court In and For City and County of San Francisco

• Citation: 47 Cal.2d 483,304 P.2d 1009
• Court: United States State Supreme Court (California)
• Decision Date: 14 December 1956
• Parties: Herbert H. DOWELL, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California, IN AND FOR The CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Respondent, Southern Pacific Company, Real Party in Interest. S. F. 19553.

Page 1009

304 P.2d 1009

47 Cal.2d 483

Herbert H. DOWELL, Petitioner, v. The SUPERIOR COURT of the State of California, IN AND FOR The CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO, Respondent Southern Pacific Company, Real Party in Interest.

S. F. 19553.

Supreme Court of California, In Bank.

Dec. 14, 1956.

Barbagelata, Zief & Carmazzi, and Rinaldo A. Carmazzi, San Francisco, for petitioner.

No appearance for respondent.

A. B. Dunne, G. Blandin Colburn, Jr., and Dunne, Dunne & Phelps, San Francisco, for real party in interest.

SHENK, Justice.

This is an application for a writ of mandate to compel the respondent Superior Court to set aside its order denying an application for inspection pursuant to section 1000 of the Code of Civil Procedure. That section provides: 'Any court in which an action is pending, or a judge thereof may, upon notice, order either party to give to the other, within a specified time, an inspection and copy or permission to take a copy, of entries of accounts in any book, or of any document or paper in his possession, or under his control, containing evidence relating to the merits of the action, or the defense therein. * * *'

In September, 1955, the petitioner Herbert Dowell suffered personal injuries resulting from the alleged negligence of the Southern Pacific Company, the real party in interest and hereinafter called the company. Shortly thereafter the petitioner was taken to a hospital. On the following day a claims investigator of the company called upon him in the hospital and took his written statement concerning the circumstances of the accident. This took place during an interview lasting approximately one hour. The petitioner signed the statement but was not given a copy.

In November, 1955, the petitioner commenced an action against the company in the respondent court, seeking the recovery of damages for his injuries. Thereafter he presented to the court a motion under section 1000 for an order directing the company to permit him or his attorneys to inspect and copy the statement he had given the claims investigator. This and a subsequent motion for inspection of the same document were denied. These motions were supported by affidavits of the plaintiff and one of his attorneys. In his affidavit the plaintiff averred that he did not remember just what he had said in the statement he had made to the investigator; that neither he nor his attorneys had seen the statement which was in the possession of the defendant; and that the evidence contained in the statement was material to the issues of liability of the defendant and the contributory negligence, if any, of the plaintiff; and that the statement would be admissible at the time of trial.

The company opposed these motions but at no time filed any counter-affidavits. On the occasion of the second motion, counsel for the company offered to permit the plaintiff to inspect and copy the statement but only on the condition that he execute and affidavit that he did not remember the facts and circumstances of the accident and that an inspection was necessary to refresh his memory. The plaintiff did not accept this offer although as noted he averred that he did not recollect what he had said in the statement.

The petitioner relies mainly on the case of Holm v. Superior Court, 42 Cal.2d 500, 267 P.2d 1025, 268 P.2d 722, and urges that the trial court abused its discretion in refusing an order of inspection. The company asserts in reply that the Holm case has no application. There are several points of similarity in the two cases which are of compelling significance. The Holm case emphasizes the importance of the requirement of materiality in the document sought to be inspected. It was there said in 42 Cal.2d at page 505, 267 P.2d at page 1028, 'Where the use of the statutory bill of discovery is denied by our courts it usually is because the information sought to be obtained is not relevant or material to any of the issues in the case.' In that proceeding the materiality of the statement sought to be produced appeared in the affidavits in support of the motion to inspect. Here the materiality of the statement was established by the uncontradicted affidavits of the plaintiff in the pending action. There as here the defendant had refused to furnish a copy of the statement to the plaintiff. There as here there was no attorney-client relationship and the parties were in adversary positions. There is a dissimilarity in that the Holm case was a prohibition proceeding and this is a mandamus proceedings. It was held in the Holm case that the condition of materiality had been met and that it was within the power of the trial court to entertain and determine the motion. The application for the writ of prohibition was accordingly denied. Whatever action the court might take in granting or denying the motion would of course be subject to the right of a plaintiff to test the discretionary power of the court with reference thereto. Whether such a motion should be granted or denied is within the trial court's sound discretion and whatever order the court might make will not be disturbed in the absence of an abuse of discretion. Shell Oil Co. v. Superior Court, 109 Cal.App. 75, 292 P. 531; Construction Products Corp. v. Superior Court, 103 Cal.App.2d 403, 229 P.2d 399.

Here the court has acted and denied the motions for inspection. As the order is not appealable there is no plain, speedy or adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law and mandamus is the appropriate remedy to obtain the relief sought. McClatchy Newspapers v. Superior Court, 26 Cal.2d 386, 159 P.2d 944; Proctor & Gamble Mfg. Co. v. Superior Court, 124 Cal. App.2d 157, 268 P.2d 199.

In approaching the problem it is noted that the 'trend of judicial decisions is to relax the rules which relate to the taking of evidence by ancillary proceedings, of which the inspection of documents in one method * * *.' Union Trust Co. v. Superior Court, 11 Cal.2d 449, 462, 81 P. 2d 150, 157, 118 A.L.R. 259; 18 C.J., Discovery, § 116 and cases cited; 27 C.J.S., Discovery, § 77.

It is also observed that the principles of equity enter into the determination of an application for discovery and also in a mandamus proceeding to compel appropriate action. It was well said in Potomac Oil Co. v. Dye, 10 Cal.App. 534, at page 537, 102 P. 677, 678: 'Mandamus, although it is an extrarordinary legal remedy, is in the nature of an equitable interference supplementing the deficiencies of the common law. It will ordinarily be issued where a legal duty is established, and no other sufficient means exist for enforcing it. * * * Its issuance is not necessarily a matter of right, but lies rather in the discretion of the court, but where one has a substantial right to protect or enforce, and this may be accomplished by such a writ, and there is no other plain, speedy, and adequate remedy in the ordinary course of law, he is entitled, as a matter of right, to the writ, or, perhaps more correctly, in other words, it would be an abuse of discretion to refuse it.' It has also been said that although generally classed as a legal remedy, the question of whether it should be applied is largely controlled by equitable considerations. Hutchison v. Reclamation Dist. No. 1619, 81 Cal.App. 427, 433, 254 P. 606, and cases cited.

In the light of the foregoing principles it appears beyond question that the petitioner has shown a substantial right in his application. It is authorized by statute and should be enforced when the necessary rpima facie showing has been made and there is no adequate showing to the contrary.

It sufficiently appears that the motions of the petitioner presented a prima facie case in favor of the relief sought. They disclosed the situation of the parties at the time the statement was made and the document signed. It is to be assumed that the claims investigator was skillful in his undertaking. It may also be assumed that it would be to the advantage of the company to obtain from a possible claimant an account from his standpoint of the facts surrounding the accident and to obtain it as soon as possible after it occurred. Certainly it may not be denied that one of the purposes of an interview with a possible claimant as soon as possible after an accident is to obtain information to be used in resisting an unjust or exorbitant claim or in aid of adjustment thereof. But in obtaining and using such information against an adverse party the conduct of the possible defendant in an action on the claim should be attended with fairness and without overreaching.

It may also fairly be assumed that a patient in a hospital, taken there immediately after an accident for observation or treatment, would then be in a condition of nervous shock and remain so for some time thereafter. Here as noted, the statement was obtained within 24 hours after the accident. If mentally distraught in any way, he might not during that period be in such a normal condition as would enable him to recollect just what had happened at the time of the accident or to appreciate the necessity of safeguarding his rights under such circumstances. He was without the aid of counsel and may not have realized that he had the right to refuse to make any statement at that time or that he had the right to demand a copy of his statement as a condition to making it. It was requested by the company and voluntarily given by the petitioner under circumstances which should give the court concern to see that no unfair advantage was taken of the party who thus voluntarily acceded to the request.

To encompass further the probabilities it may be that a person undergoing examination under the circumstances here shown would then be possessed of a clearer recollection of what had taken place than he would have thereafter. In this respect the statement might have reciprocal advantages. In such a case the advantage to the person making it would be as an aid in...