KENDALL-JACKSON

The doctrine of unclean hands does not deny relief to a plaintiff guilty of any past misconduct; only misconduct directly related to the matter in which he seeks relief triggers the defense. (11 Witkin, Summary of Cal. Law (9th ed. 1990) Equity, § 10, p. 686.) The trial court found that Kendall-Jackson Winery, Ltd. (Kendall-Jackson), the defendant in a malicious prosecution action, had no relevant evidence that the plaintiff, E. & J. Gallo Winery (Gallo), acted with unclean hands in relation to its claim and ordered summary adjudication for the plaintiff on Kendall-Jackson’s unclean hands defense. The novel issue presented is this: When “unclean hands” is raised as an affirmative defense to a malicious prosecution claim, is the relevant misconduct limited to that which affected the defendant’s decision to file and pursue the prior lawsuit? We hold it is not; misconduct in the particular transaction or connected to the subject matter of the litigation that affects the equitable relations between the litigants is sufficient to trigger the defense.

We issue a writ of mandate directing the trial court to vacate its order granting summary adjudication for real party in…