Muccianti

This case addresses application of Code of Civil Procedure section 128, subdivision (a)(8), in the context of a request to vacate a multimillion-dollar verdict against a health care facility. The parties appear to assume that their request unquestionably will be granted and that we will give our judicial blessing to what is, for all practical purposes, a stipulated reversal. This assumption is based upon the parties’ apparent belief that the judgment belongs solely to them to use in a manner that is in their best interests. What they fail to recognize is that under section 128, subdivision (a)(8), their assumption is no longer legally correct. This judgment now belongs to the public—not the parties—and the public indisputably has an interest in its continuing existence.

A brief review of the circumstances is warranted. Plaintiffs and respondents John Muccianti and Dorothy Beard, individually and as successors in interest of Margaret Muccianti, deceased (plaintiffs), filed a wrongful death action against defendants and appellants Willow Creek Care Center, Summit Corporation and Fountain View Corporation (collectively Fountain View). Plaintiffs’ mother died shortly after…