Garcia

Plaintiff Johnny Garcia brought suit for breach of oral contract, fraud and related causes of action when defendants Ronald G. and Sherry Roberts allegedly reneged on their agreement to allow plaintiff to purchase certain real property located in Sanger, California. Plaintiff claimed during discovery that his agreement was based solely on an oral loan arrangement, not a written contract. Plaintiff died prior to trial and his wife, Omega Garcia, was permitted to continue plaintiff’s lawsuit as his successor in interest. After trial commenced, plaintiff (through Omega Garcia as successor in interest) moved to amend the complaint to add a new cause of action for breach of a written contract for an option to purchase the real property. The trial court granted the motion to amend over defendants’ objections and the jury subsequently found in plaintiff’s favor on all causes of action, including breach of written contract. Judgment was entered on the verdict. Defendants appeal on several grounds, including that the trial court abused its discretion in allowing the amendment during trial, the oral contract cause of action was invalid as a matter of law, and there was no…