California requires all crane operators to be certified. (Cal. Code Regs., tit. 8, § 5006.1.) Respondent National Commission for Certification of Crane Operators (NCCCO) is the only nonunion certifying entity in the state. To be certified, applicants must pass NCCCO's written and practical exams. NCCCO contracted with respondent International Assessment Institute (IAI) to develop and administer the exams.
Appellant John Nypl owns and operates appellant California Crane School, Inc. (CCS), a training facility for those seeking to pass NCCCO's operator
Appellants sued respondents for Cartwright Antitrust Act (Bus. & Prof. Code,
Appellants appeal contending (1) the court erred in sustaining the demurrer because the complaint alleged an illegal group boycott;
We will set forth the trial evidence and address the trial issues first. We will then address the order sustaining the demurrers. We will affirm as to the trial issues; we will reverse the ruling on the demurrer to the antitrust causes of action.
According to appellants, the court decided, unilaterally and over the objections of both parties, to limit the trial to 10 days. As a result of the unreasonable time limit, appellants were unable to call all of their witnesses or present rebuttal evidence, and were thus deprived of a fair trial. (Kelly v. New West Federal Savings (1996) 49 Cal.App.4th 659, 677 [56 Cal.Rptr.2d 803].) According to respondents, the court provided ample warning that the trial would be scheduled as it was and merely exercised its inherent authority to reasonably control the proceedings. (Ellis v. Roshei Corp. (1983) 143 Cal.App.3d 642, 648-649 [192 Cal.Rptr. 57].) We find no abuse of discretion or deprivation of a fair trial.
Appellants' time estimate in their pretrial brief was four to six weeks. But, during pretrial discussions, the court told the parties that trial should last no more than nine or 10 days. The court reasoned that pretrial rulings had narrowed the issues and reduced the case to Nypl's and CCS's two related interference causes of action against NCCCO and IAI. Appellants' counsel replied that nine days was "optimistic," but made no comment in response to the court's concluding statement, "given the narrowing of the issues here, I think we can do it in that time. So that's going to be the target; nine to ten days, okay."
When the court ruled against appellants on an in limine motion, they reported they would need an additional half or full day to respond to the evidence respondents were permitted to introduce from the federal court proceedings. The court agreed to a 12-day trial.
The slow pace of counsel for appellants was apparent from the start. Appellants' counsel argued during opening statement, for which the court admonished him, and he exceeded the allotted time for opening statement. At the end of the first day of testimony, respondents' counsel expressed concern that appellants had not completed even one of their 30-some proposed witnesses. Appellants' counsel replied that the first witness was always longer and appellants had only three "major" witnesses: Mitchell, who was on the stand, Brent, and Nypl. The court reiterated that the trial would last 12 days total, divided between the two sides.
The court concluded, "I think you guys should have thought about this when you spent two-and-a-half days on Mr. Mitchell .... I mean that seems to be excessive considering the amount of time you guys agreed it would take to put your case on. I gave you two extra days and you used two-and-a-half days on one witness. It doesn't make me particularly sympathetic to your plight. [¶] So I'm going to stick with my schedule. I told you it wasn't chiseled in stone. I'm going to see what happens. But tomorrow at noon I want [respondents] to have their case." Counsel for appellants asked if they should have all of their witnesses present the next morning. The court responded, "You should have as many as you think you can get on between now and noon tomorrow."
On the morning of the eighth day of trial, appellants completed their direct examination of Nypl and respondents spent the rest of the morning cross-examining him. Appellants were permitted to call an additional expert witness that afternoon, and a final witness, Danny Matranga, on the afternoon of the ninth day of trial.
On the morning of the 10th day of trial, the court granted respondents' motion for nonsuit on appellants' interference with contract claim and denied it as to the interference with business relationships claim. The court told the parties the case had to go to the jury the next day or they would lose a juror who had a planned vacation. Respondents continued with their case. That afternoon, respondents' counsel protested that appellants' counsel was taking more time cross-examining respondents' witnesses than respondents were taking with direct examination. Appellants' counsel protested that was not true and the court completed the discussion off the record.
When additional juror scheduling problems came to light, the parties agreed to limit closing argument to one hour each. Before the case went to the jury, appellants objected that they had not been permitted to rebut respondents' evidence, which they could have rebutted. It also came to light that appellants had not moved certain exhibits into evidence. The court asked why they had not moved them into evidence before they rested. Appellants'
The case was argued to the jury late on the afternoon of the 11th day of trial and the jury deliberated and reached a verdict on the 12th day of trial.
Time limits may be stated in terms of court days or court hours. One difficulty with using court days is that the length of time that a court is in session on any given day may vary depending on unanticipated interruptions or delays (e.g., juror tardiness, matters taken up outside the presence of the jury, other court business that interrupts the trial, etc.). Thus, one trial day may include six hours of testimony while another trial day may include only four hours. When court days are used, a portion of one party's time limit includes the time its opponent takes to cross-examine the first party's witnesses. Theoretically, a party's opponent could use up a substantial portion of the other party's time limit through lengthy cross-examination.
There are advantages to specifying time limits in court hours rather than court days. An hour time limit imposed on one side would include all time
Regardless of whether court-imposed time limits are expressed in days or hours, any time limit order should be reasonable, mindful that each party is entitled to a full and fair opportunity to present its case. Trials are a dynamic process without the benefit of a dress rehearsal, which makes forecasting the length of a trial less than precise. But for those parties and attorneys who are fully prepared for trial and do not waste time with repetitive questioning, cumulative evidence, not having witnesses available, or not having documentary evidence organized and easily accessible, a trial's length is not an issue. Thus, despite the vagaries of trial, when all parties try a case diligently, there is no reason for time limits. In all other cases, time limits will provide incentive to be diligent.
Any limits imposed should be subject to revision (upward or downward) for good cause shown either on a party's or the court's own motion. For example, if one party decides not to call several witnesses on its original list or abandons some of its claims or defenses, or if the court dismisses some of a party's claims or defenses, the court would be justified in reducing that party's time allowance. On the other hand, if an unanticipated trial event causes a party to call additional witnesses not originally scheduled to testify, then the court would be justified in increasing that party's time allotment provided the court was given timely notice of the request, found that party's claim of surprise credible, determined that its surprise was not the result of inattention or lack of preparation and concluded that said party had otherwise managed its case in a diligent manner.
However, the court must permit a party to have his day in court. Denying a party the right to testify or offer evidence deprives him of a fair trial and
The trial court did not abuse its discretion in controlling the trial proceedings as it did. The case went to trial on only Nypl's and CCS's two related business interference tort claims against NCCCO and IAI. The trial court reasonably set aside nine to 10 days for trial and notified both sides of this timeframe. While appellants stated the timeframe was "optimistic," they did not object or provide any rationale why the trial could not be completed within that time period.
Further, the reasonable inference from the record is that appellants were unable to present rebuttal evidence because they did not manage their case-in-chief in a manner that permitted time for rebuttal. Appellants called Mitchell, IAI's president, as their first witness. After a full day of direct examination, counsel stated he had "about an hour or maybe more," thus suggesting that additional witnesses would be called the next day. However, appellants kept Mitchell on the stand for an additional two days and did not examine their second witness, Brent, until the morning of the fourth day of testimony. Brent was on the stand for two days before appellants called their third witness, Nypl, on the seventh day of testimony. They completed Nypl's direct examination on the morning of the eighth day of testimony and respondents began their case-in-chief at noon that day. Appellants thus spent almost seven days examining three witnesses.
Appellants submit they were unable to call witnesses Timothy Maxwell, Wes Staley, Joshua Larsen, Robert Hornauer, Jared Maxwell, Vladimir Nypl, Robert Scott, and "[o]ther [v]ictims of the [b]oycott," who would have testified to the nature and effect of the boycott that constituted the wrongful interference with appellants' business relationships, which were at issue at trial. Appellants also contend they were unable to rebut testimony regarding nonparty Robert Scott's questionable integrity, the number of accredited practical examiners available in the state, Nypl's "practice" of placing test answers on the testing room walls,
A judgment will not be reversed due to the erroneous exclusion of evidence unless it appears, upon examining the entire cause, including the evidence, a miscarriage of justice has resulted. (Cal. Const., art. VI, § 13; Evid. Code, § 354.) A miscarriage of justice occurs only when the reviewing court is convinced it is reasonably probable a result more favorable to the appellant would have been reached absent the error. (In re Marriage of Smith (1978) 79 Cal.App.3d 725, 750-751 [145 Cal.Rptr. 205].) In light of the record evidence and the jury finding that neither IAI nor NCCCO intended to interfere with Nypl's and CCS's economic relationships, we are not convinced it is reasonably probable a result more favorable to appellants would have been reached had the excluded evidence been admitted.
2., 3.
The order of March 24, 2010, sustaining respondents' demurrer to the Cartwright Act violation/illegal trust cause of action is reversed. The case is remanded to the trial court with directions to overrule respondents' demurrer to the Cartwright Act and illegal trust causes of action. In all other respects, the judgment is affirmed. The parties shall bear their own costs on appeal.
Poochigian, J., and Franson, J., concurred.