Superior Court Judge Timothy Frawley has tentatively ruled against Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's motion to transfer and coordinate furlough lawsuits in San Francisco and Alameda courts to Sacramento. Here's a significant passage from the six-page ruling:
Taking all of the section 404.1 factors into account, the Court concludes that coordination of the Included Actions in Sacramento would not promote the ends of justice.
As to the Special Fund cases, there are virtually no factors supporting coordination of those cases with the Psychiatric Technicians case.
As to the CCPOA case, while there may be some benefit to coordinating the actions to reduce the risk of inconsistent adjudications, because the predominating questions of fact and law in the actions are unique and different, and because the CCPOA case has been significantly litigated and has an imminent date set for hearing on the merits, the Court concludes that coordination would not promote the ends of justice.
The motion to coordinate is therefore DENIED.
Frawley could change his mind after tomorrow's 1:30 p.m. hearing, but judges rarely retreat from their tentative decisions. Click here to read today's ruling. For background on the governor's motion and tomorrow's hearing, click here.
The Author
About Comments
Reader comments on Sacbee.com are the opinions of the writer, not The Sacramento Bee. If you see an objectionable comment, click the "report abuse" button below it. We will delete comments containing inappropriate links, obscenities, hate speech, and personal attacks. Flagrant or repeat violators will be banned. See more about comments here.