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Wong v. 396 Investment Co.5/17/2005
ive on account of non-compliance with the notice provisions of Code of Civil Procedure section 877.5. Finally, 396 relied to its detriment on Anaheim's representation that it had "no objection to settlement structure and approach," by paying out millions of dollars in satisfaction of its obligations under the settlement agreements. In sum, the four requirements of equitable estoppel are satisfied.
(2) Denial of Request for Jury Instructions re Agreements
(a) Introduction
In addition to its challenge to the validity of the sliding scale settlement agreements, Anaheim challenges the court's denial of its request for jury instructions pertaining to the agreements. Anaheim cites Code of Civil Procedure section 877.5, subdivision (a), which provides in pertinent part: "Where an agreement or covenant is made which provides for a sliding scale recovery agreement between one or more, but not all, alleged defendant tortfeasors and the plaintiff or plaintiffs: [ ] . . . [ ] (2) If the action is tried before a jury, and a defendant party to the agreement is called as a witness at trial, the court shall, upon motion of a party, disclose to the jury the existence and content of the agreement or covenant, unless the court finds that this disclosure will create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury."
(b) Phase I trial
On April 6, 2001, Anaheim filed its request for disclosure of the sliding scale settlement agreements to the jury. The court denied the request on May 2, 2001. In so doing, the court stated: ". . . CCP [section] 877.5[, subdivision] (a)(2) does allow evidence of sliding scale [settlement] agreements . . . for the purpose of showing a bias of a witness who entered into such settlement agreement, unless the court finds that the disclosure will create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury. [ ] In this first phase of the trial, our issue is, as I've said, legal responsibility for the cause of the landslide. I think in balancing the - on the one hand the issue of whether or not one of the parties paid a substantial sum of money, which they did in this case, to allow these homeowners to relocate, to impact the ultimate decision of who has the legal responsibility for causing the landslide, that the possible prejudice, confusion, or misleading the jury tremendously outweighs any possible showing of bias." The court further explained: "The potential prejudice is one that works in favor of [Anaheim]. It's interesting. Under no circumstances do I think any court would ever allow the particulars of the sliding scale [settlement] agreement to go to this jury at this time in this phase because of the tremendous amount of money that was paid."
Anaheim contends the court, in declining to disclose the existence of the sliding scale settlement agreements to the jury, misled the jury into believing that 396 and the plaintiffs, who Anaheim asserts should be "natural enemies," agreed that Anaheim was at fault. 396, on the other hand, maintains that the disclosure of the agreements might have led the jury to believe that the paying party was responsible. The trial court agreed with 396's viewpoint, given what the court described as "the tremendous amount of money that was paid" to the plaintiffs. It was within the trial court's discretion to determine whether the "disclosure [would] create substantial danger of undue prejudice, of confusing the issues, or of misleading the jury." (Code Civ. Proc., ยง 877.5, subd. (a)(2); Barajas v. USA Petroleum Corp. (1986) 184 Cal.App.3d 974, 988-989.) " e cannot say that the trial court's decision to not advise the jury of
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