Tadevosyan v. Shakarian
These appeals are from adverse summary judgments in favor of two groups of defendants in this wrongful death action stemming from a shooting at a restaurant. Appellants, heirs of the decedent, argue: the trial court erred in concluding no duty was owed to protect decedent from the criminal act of a third party; it applied the wrong standard, ignored triable issues of material fact, and considered new evidence improperly submitted in respondents reply pleadings; and summary judgment should have been denied because respondents and their counsel obstructed discovery. In a consolidated appeal, appellants challenge an award of fees incurred by respondents in proving facts denied by appellants in response to requests for admission.
We conclude that appellants failed to present evidence in opposition to the motions for summary judgments sufficient to raise triable issues of material fact as to a duty owed to them by respondents or as to causation. There was no obstruction of discovery by respondents which would warrant reversal.We also conclude respondents did not move to compel further responses to the requests for admission for which fees were awarded and therefore lost their right to such fees. We shall affirm the grant of summary judgment but reverse the fee award.
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