Kyle

Plaintiff James Kyle filed a civil action for damages against defendant Shelly Carmon. Claiming plaintiff’s suit was a strategic lawsuit against public participation (SLAPP), defendant moved to dismiss the action pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure section 425.16. A hearing was held on the SLAPP motion and, at the conclusion of the hearing, the trial court took the motion under submission. While the motion was under submission, plaintiff filed with the clerk a voluntary dismissal of the action with prejudice pursuant to section 581. Despite the filing of the dismissal, the trial court then granted the SLAPP motion, entering an order striking plaintiff’s complaint and awarding defendant attorney’s fees and costs.

Plaintiff appeals, contending the trial court was without authority to strike the complaint once the dismissal with prejudice had been filed.

We conclude the voluntary dismissal was valid; we shall therefore reverse the trial court’s order striking plaintiff’s complaint. However, we shall affirm the trial court’s award of attorney’s fees and costs in favor of defendant.

Factual and Procedural Background

On May 27, 1997, plaintiff (a school district…