Darbun Enterprises, Inc. v. San Fernando Community Hospital

Plaintiff Darbun Enterprises, Inc., doing business as All Saints Healthcare (Darbun), sued defendant San Fernando Community Hospital, doing business as Mission Community Hospital (Mission), for breach of a lease agreement, seeking damages and specific performance.

The trial in this case proceeded in two phases. The first, the equity phase, was held to determine whether the equitable remedy of specific performance was available should Darbun prevail. The court reserved the issues of breach and resulting contract damages for the jury. At the end of the equity phase, however, the trial court stated it could not decide on the specific performance issue until it heard additional evidence, to be presented at the jury trial. The jury, which already had been seated and sworn, was called and the second, legal, phase of trial commenced. After Darbun presented its case, Mission moved for nonsuit. The trial court granted that motion as to specific performance only. It found that, after weighing the evidence and making credibility determinations as the equity fact finder, the lease could not be specifically performed, and that Darbun had failed to perform its obligations under the…