Herriott

FACTS AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

I. Facts

Paula, her mother, and her adult sister live in two neighboring apartment buildings in Hermosa Beach. Both buildings are owned by a trust created by Paula’s now-deceased father. The current trustee is Paula’s uncle, Parker Herriott (Parker). The administration of the trust is currently in litigation before the probate court. At some point in the past, Paula and her mother started collecting rent from the buildings’ other tenants, and keeping that money for themselves rather than handing it over to the trustee. The probate court enjoined Paula’s mother from engaging in such behavior. Parker asked Mark Wershoven (Wershoven) and Laurie Thibodeoux (Thibodeoux) to do repairs for the buildings’ tenants as well as to keep an eye on the buildings. Wershoven and Thibodeoux, who are dating, were Paula’s upstairs neighbors. In July 2020, Paula asked Wershoven to repair a plumbing issue in her apartment; Thibodeoux accompanied Wershoven while he did the repairs. In August 2020, an unknown person turned down the thermostat for the hot water heater for Paula’s building, and Paula and her mother suspected it was Wershoven. In

Because some of…