Legal Question in Appeals and Writs in California

Re: False Records Filed in Appeal

Your message doesn't make much sense, so I'm not sure how to answer. You say you asked for an OSC re: contempt on the court's own motion, but this is a non-sequitur; "on the court's own motion" means that no one asked for it. If you asked, then it's your motion.

I have only heard of one instance of a California appellate court holding an attorney in contempt, and that case involved repeated failures to file an opening brief altogether despite court-ordered deadlines.

Under Rule of Court 5.1 (i), the Court of Appeal may award sanctions where a party willfully files an erroneous or inadequate appendix. These sanctions are usually monetery, but can include rejection of a brief or an adverse ruling. Contempt is probably permissible, but highly unlikely in this situation.

It is also a nonsquitur to describe something as a "joint" appendix for one side only. Joint means what it says -- that the materials were selected by the two sides working together. If one side submits its own appendix, then it isn't joint.

The rules require the parties to try to agree on a joint appendix. Normally, both sides are able to agree on the content of the joint appendix. If they cannot agree, however, they are allowed to file separate appendices. You say the lawyers refused to meet and confer; if true, this is a violation. But the requirement can be satisfied with a quick phone call, and it seems unlikely that neither side even phoned the other about this. Are you sure about this point?

The appellant may file an appendix labeled as "Appellant's Appendix in Lieu of Clerk's Transcript" and the respondant my then file a "Respondent's Appendix." If the lawyers got this part wrong, they don't know what they're doing.

You also say the Court of Appeal "ordered" the filing of a joint appendix, but it is the parties who decide whether to employ this method, and they do so by filing an appropriate notice in the Superior Court, not the Court of Appeal. I am not aware that the Court of Appeal is authorized to issue the type of order you describe. As I said, parties are allowed to file their own appendices, and I really can't imagine why a court would order them to do so. Maybe if you gave me more facts, I'd understand better.

Even if the appendices are defective, this is not the same thing as filing a false record. A false record would imply the presence of fabricated documents -- a very serious offense, but one that is easily detected and thus almost never occurs. If the parties did this they might find themselves in contempt, but mere defects in the appendix don't rise to this level.

I also don't understand what your role is in the case. You seem to feel wronged by the Appellant and by the Respondent, so what is your role in this appeal?