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Rosales v. Battle11/4/2003
NOT TO BE PUBLISHED IN OFFICIAL REPORTS
California Rules of Court, rule 977(a), prohibits courts and parties from citing or relying on opinions not certified for publication or ordered published, except as specified by rule 977(b). This opinion has not been certified for publication or ordered published for purposes of rule 977.
After Jesus Mendoza was killed in an automobile accident in San Diego County, Mendoza's dependents, who live in Mexico, filed a wrongful death action against Greg Alan Battle, the driver of the vehicle that struck Mendoza, and Johnson & Johnson, Battle's employer (collectively respondents). The court granted respondents' motion for summary adjudication as to Flor Yolanda Peralta Rosales, the mother of four of Mendoza's children, ruling she does not have standing to sue under California's wrongful death statute.
Rosales appeals, contending (1) the court erred in determining she was not married to Mendoza under Mexican law; (2) her status as a heir under Mexican law gives her standing to sue for wrongful death in California; and (3) if she has no standing to sue for wrongful death, then California's wrongful death statute violates her constitutional right to equal protection. We affirm.
FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND
Mendoza was killed in a car accident on February 14, 2001. Mendoza was a permanent resident of the United States, who had lived and worked in Vista during the week and had returned to his family in Tijuana, Mexico on weekends. Rosales is a Mexican citizen who lives in Tijuana.
In her deposition, Rosales testified she and Mendoza began living together on June 21, 1997. Mendoza gave her a wedding ring and moved her into the home he shared with his mother and siblings in Tijuana. Rosales considers June 21, 1997 the date of her marriage, even though she and Mendoza did not obtain a civil marriage license or go through a formal ceremony. Rosales and Mendoza had four children together, including twins born after Mendoza died.
On March 14, 2002, the Eighth Court of Civil Matters in Baja California, Mexico issued a judgment of intestate succession for Mendoza's estate. The judgment declares Rosales to be Mendoza's concubine ("concubina"), finding Mendoza and Rosales had maintained a relationship publicly comparable to a marriage for about four or five years and had always behaved as though they were married, even though they had not contracted legal matrimony. It found Mendoza, Rosales and their children had established a family relationship. Because Mendoza left no testamentary instrument, the judgment declares Rosales and her children Mendoza's "sole and universal heirs ab intestato."
On April 11, 2001, Mendoza's dependants filed a wrongful death action against respondents. On December 31, 2001, the first amended complaint, which added Rosales as a plaintiff, was filed by stipulation of the parties. On January 3, 2002, respondents moved for summary adjudication on the ground that Rosales did not have standing to sue as a surviving spouse. After a hearing held on March 19, 2002, the court confirmed its tentative ruling that Rosales did not have standing to sue for wrongful death under California law.
On April 18, 2002, Rosales moved for reconsideration and request for judicial notice of the Baja California court's judgment of intestate succession. On May 10, the court granted Rosales's motion for reconsideration and request for judicial notice but reaffirmed its ruling that Rosales has no standing.
DISCUSSION
I. Summary Adjudication
We review de novo a grant of summary adjudication. (Ojavan Investors, Inc. v. Calif
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