December 21, 2009

The California Court of Appeal ruled in favor of Peter Paul by affirming the lower court’s decision which denied the anti-SLAPP motion of Clinton friend Gary Smith. Just over a year ago, on December 4, 2008, the trial court rebuffed Smith’s efforts to have this matter dismissed. Instead, the court ruled that the case against Smith could and should go forward immediately.

However, by filing an appeal on December 31, Smith effectively put a freeze on all proceedings in the trial court, including taking depositions. The December 21, 2009, ruling by the Court of Appeal, viewable here, confirms what Paul’s counsel, Colette Wilson, has been saying all along, that there was no legitimate basis for Smith’s anti-SLAPP motion in the first place, and the appeal was equally frivolous.

The Court of Appeal is expected to issue a remittitur on February 22, which will send the case back to the trial court , where a Case Management Conference is now on calendar for March 5, 2010, in Department 47. Interestingly, when it does, the case will go in front of an entirely new judge, the Hon. Debre K. Weintraub. Effective January 1, 2010, Judge Aurelio Munoz (who had remained in Department 47, notwithstanding his retirement last year) will no longer be handling cases assigned to that department.

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