Ghadrdan

INTRODUCTION

Defendants and appellants Alex Gorabi and Angelino Men’s. Wear, Inc. (defendants), appeal from a monetary judgment entered against them and in favor of plaintiff Sam Ghadrdan (plaintiff) after a jury trial. In the published portion of this opinion, we hold that the trial court did not abuse its discretion when it excluded evidence of a plea agreement and conviction of a corporation, of which plaintiff was the chief executive officer and sole shareholder, to impeach plaintiff and show plaintiff’s motive and knowledge. In the unpublished portion of this opinion, we reject defendants’ other contentions. We therefore affirm the judgment.

FACTUAL BACKGROUND

This litigation arose out of a long-standing business relationship between plaintiff and defendant that originally involved a textile business. Plaintiff financed the business and defendant handled the day-to-day operations. At some point, the original business became a men’s clothing business that, among other things, purchased a parcel of commercial property. In 2006, a dispute arose over the ownership of the clothing business and the commercial property. As a result, plaintiff sued defendants alleging…