Newport Harbor Offices & Marina v. Morris Cerullo World Evangelism CA4/3

INTRODUCTION

Defendant Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (MCWE) appeals from an order denying yet another special motion to strike pursuant to Code of Civil Procedure 1 section 425.16 (section 425.16). This anti-SLAPP motion was directed only to the last 14 words of paragraph 92 of the fourth amended complaint filed by Newport Harbor 2 Offices & Marina, LLC (NHOM). The trial court denied MCWE’s anti-SLAPP motion on the merits. We affirm the order denying the motion but do so on the ground the motion was untimely filed. In Newport Harbor Ventures, LLC v. Morris Cerullo World Evangelism (2018) 4 Cal.5th 637, 641, 645 (Newport Harbor Ventures) the California Supreme Court held that an anti-SLAPP motion against an amended complaint may be filed without court permission only if the motion could not have been brought earlier. MCWE could have brought its anti-SLAPP motion nearly three years earlier than it did because paragraph 92 of the fourth amended complaint is identical to paragraph 119 of the third amended complaint, which was served in July 2016. Nearly five years ago, MCWE filed an anti-SLAPP motion to strike numerous allegations of NHOM’s third amended complaint but decided not…