Legal Question in Civil Litigation in California
I was a plaintiff in a case against an auto mechanic who severely ripped me off, and I was awarded a judgement that I considered satisfactory. At the first case I subpoenaed a witness who presented his CA sealed report which showed up to 5-7 pages of violations against the mechanic, and the judge voiced how familiar he was with such cases and could easily see the numerous violations. The judge questioned the witness and allowed me to present my facts. The defendant then appealed the case and we had a trial with a "temp judge". She didn't let me speak, checked the clock before lunch several times, asked me questions not relevant to the case, and the defendant did not present new information or evidence. She hardly reviewed my evidence, returned the subpoenaed documents from my previous witness it to me, and kept the defendant's invoice/evidence. A new judgement was entered, for a less than satisfactory amount. What can I do to either have the court reconsider the judgement, or is it even possible to have a new hearing? I am at a loss at this point. The car is not worth the value to have the work done a second time. Thank you
1 Answer from Attorneys
The fact that the appeal led to a second trial suggests that this was a small-claims case. If so, you're probably stuck with the result. Plaintiffs forfeit the right to appeal when they choose to go to small claims court instead of filing a regular case. It's part of the trade-off for the increased speed and reduced costs small claims court offers. Defendants are allowed to appeal because they aren't the ones who decided to make that tradeoff.
On rare occasions, there are grounds for a plaintiff to challenge the result of a small-claims appeal in the court where it was tried. Nothing you wrote suggests that any of those grounds are present here. They only work when there was a procedural error, such as a missed deadline or a failure to serve required papers. All you've said is that the judge should have done her job better at trial. If you had the right to appeal, that might be a legitimate reason. But you waived the right to appeal by going to small claims court, and you can't get it back by claiming you'd have good arguments to make in an appellate court.
If I had more facts, I might see things differently.
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