Rodriguez

INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff Omar Rodriguez (plaintiff), acting as administrator for the estate of his late mother, Maria Gonzalez (the decedent), sued his half-brother Victor Gonzalez (defendant) for elder abuse. Plaintiff alleged defendant retained the decedent’s interest in real property for a wrongful use or with the intent to defraud, within the meaning of Welfare and Institutions Code section 15610.30, subdivision (a)(1). Plaintiff further alleged defendant had previously persuaded the decedent to convey her interest to defendant for the stated purpose of refinancing the property and falsely promised to thereafter convey her interest in the property back to her. Defendant filed a motion under the California anti-SLAPP statute, Code of 1 Civil Procedure section 425.16 (section 425.16), in which he argued the entire lawsuit must be stricken because it arose out of defendant’s acts of filing unlawful detainer actions against the decedent which constitute protected activity. Plaintiff filed an opposition to the motion, but did not produce evidence showing his probability of prevailing on the claim. The trial court granted the motion in part by striking allegations pertaining to…