bad customers and court cases - summary

[Payne Freret]

12:02 pm Fri 31 Jan 2003

After Payne wrote
> >     (b) The defendant with respect to the plaintiff's claim,
> >     and a plaintiff with respect to a claim of the defendant,
> >     may appeal the judgment to the superior court in the
> >     county in which the action was heard.

Jim Hickstein countered
> But appelate courts only consider matters of law, not of
> fact.  The judge in the lower court has to have made a
> mistake (in someone's opinion).

Not for appeals of Small Claims judgements.  Again from the
California Code of Civil Procedure,

    16.770.  (a) The appeal to the superior court shall
    consist of a new hearing before a judicial officer other
    than the judicial officer who heard the action in the
    small claims division.

    (d) The scope of the hearing shall include the claims of
    all parties who were parties to the small claims action at
    the time the notice of appeal was filed.  The hearing
    shall include the claim of a defendant that was heard in
    the small claims court.

The code used to describe the appeal as a "trial du novo."  Now it
calls it simply a "new hearing."

Payne Freret