Grace

After plaintiff Timothy Grace (plaintiff), and his wife, Michelle Blair (Michelle) (collectively plaintiffs), prevailed on their personal injury action against defendants Levik Mansourian (defendant) and his mother, Satina Mansourian (collectively defendants), plaintiffs filed a motion seeking to recover costs of proof under Code of Civil Procedure section 2033.420 (all further statutory references are to this code unless otherwise stated) based on defendants’ failure to admit certain requests for admissions. Plaintiffs appeal from the trial court’s denial of the motion, arguing abuse of discretion. We conclude defendants had no reasonable basis to deny liability for plaintiff’s ankle injury and certain treatment for it. Therefore we reverse and remand for the court to determine the reasonable amount to be awarded plaintiffs for their costs of proving these issues. The order is otherwise affirmed.

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY

While driving into an intersection, defendant hit a car driven by plaintiff. Defendant told the traffic collision investigator, Linda Villelli (Villelli), that when he entered the intersection the light was yellow and he believed he could make it…