Roe

*292 Wolfgang Halbig sued five "John Doe" defendants in Florida for defamation for comments made about him on websites and social media sites. To determine the identities of the posters of the allegedly defamatory statements, Halbig served a subpoena on Google requiring the production of documents and information revealing *108 the identity of the person maintaining http://sandyhookanalysis.blogspot.com. Google, in turn, notified the account holder of the subpoena. That person, described here as John/Jane Roe, filed a petition to quash the subpoena (motion to quash) under Code of Civil Procedure section 1987.1 1 and requested fees and costs under section 1987.2, subdivision (c). After Roe filed the motion to quash but before the hearing, Halbig withdrew the subpoena. At the subsequent hearing, the trial court found that Roe was the "prevailing party" under section 1987.2, subdivision (c) and awarded attorney's fees and costs to Roe.

On appeal, Halbig argues that the trial court committed error when it determined that Roe was the prevailing party because, by the date of the court's decision and fee award, the subpoena had already been withdrawn. Halbig further contends that the…