Pacific Gas & Electric Co. v. Superior Court

Petitioner, plaintiff in an action for eminent domain, seeks a writ of mandamus directing respondent superior court to grant its application for an order authorizing immediate possession of the subject properties pending the conclusion of the parties’ appeals from the judgment of the trial court. The subject property comprises eight parcels of real estate in San Joaquin County, consisting of ranches and recreational property near Lake Comanche and the Town of Clements. An eight-mile strip of land running across the subject property was taken for towers carrying high-voltage transmission lines to be energized by a nuclear power plant in southern Sacramento County.

Petitioner contends:

(1) Section 1254 of the Code of Civil Procedure imposes on the trial court the mandatory duty to grant such an order authorizing immediate possession pending appeal upon proper application and compliance with the requirements of the section in question; and

(2) Assuming such duty is discretionary, respondent court abused its discretion in denying the application in the matter before us.

Real parties in interest, the group of property owners subject to the condemnation, assert that to…