John Doe vs Santa Barbara Unified School District et al

Case Number

21CV01542

Case Type

Hearing Date / Time

Wed, 04/10/2024 - 10:00

Nature of Proceedings

Motion: Consolidation

Tentative Ruling

Plaintiff John Doe by John Taylor, Natalie Weatherford, Sonya Ostovar; Afnan Shukry; Holly J Boyer.

Defendant Santa Barbara Unified School District by Harry Harrison, Jessica J Slusser.

Issue

Motion for Consolidation

RULING

The motion is DENIED. Which of the two Plaintiffs will you try on 4/24/24?

Analysis

The Court has read the Motion, the Opposition, and the Reply. There is merit to what the Plaintiff requests and the Court clearly understands Plaintiff’s argument that these cases present the same factual and legal issues. That to consolidate them would save significant judicial resources, the time of the potential jurors, the time of the impaneled jurors, the time of the lawyers and their staff. That is a fair argument.

On the other hand, these cases present multiple allegations of abuse and stalking arising from different facts, which occurred at different times, locations, and involved different witnesses. Evidence associated with causation and damages contentions is different.

There is a significant danger of prejudice even if only considering the issue of damages given the different evidence associated with Sell’s alleged interactions with the respective Plaintiffs.

There is the real danger that if there are two claims of abuse it will impact a juror’s thinking that it must be true.

On balance, the Request to Consolidate should be denied. Do not mention to the potential jurors or the impaneled jury that there is yet another Plaintiff or that an earlier case involving another Plaintiff was tried.