Vineyard
Vineyard Springs Estates v. Superior Court
Opinion
Opinion
Sims, J.
In this summary judgment case, we hold that a trial court has a mandatory duty, enforceable by mandate, to rule on evidentiary objections that are in proper form.
Defendant Vineyard Springs Estates (Vineyard) petitioned this court for a writ of mandate after the trial court denied Vineyard’s motion for summary judgment in the tort action filed by plaintiffs and real parties in interest Ronald Wyatt and Sylvia Wyatt (Wyatt). Vineyard requested a peremptory writ directing the trial court to rule on evidentiary objections raised below on which the trial court failed to rule, even after Vineyard reminded the court of its obligation to rule on them and the court repeatedly promised to do so.
We issued an alternative writ. Wyatt then filed a written return to the writ petition, and Vineyard replied. We thereafter issued an order staying further proceedings in the trial court.
We now discharge the alternative writ and issue a peremptory writ directing the trial court to vacate its order denying summary judgment to Vineyard, to rule on Vineyard’s evidentiary objections, and to reconsider the summary judgment motion after so ruling.