SCHOOL DIST. OF OKALOOSA CTY. v. Superior Court of Los Angeles County

The issue in this multi-defendant case is whether the trial court must grant a late-named defendant’s peremptory challenge (Code Civ. Proc., § 170.6), notwithstanding that the time within which the other defendants could have challenged the judge has long since expired, and notwithstanding that the case has been assigned to one judge as “complex litigation.” Whatever considerations there may be in favor of a rule that would both enhance the trial court’s ability to control its caseload and discourage the sort of gamesmanship that occurred in this case, the statute gives the late-appearing defendant the right to exercise its challenge within 10 days after its appearance. (§ 170.6, subds. (2), (3).) Since the challenge filed in this case was filed within that time, it should have been granted.

Background

In December 1993, 14 governmental entities sued about 50 other governmental and private entities (many from outside of California) to recover millions of dollars misappropriated through several investment schemes. The case was filed in the San Francisco Superior Court but was transferred to Los Angeles in June 1994, where it was assigned to one judge for all purposes…