Source: https://law.justia.com/cases/california/court-of-appeal/4th/85/1356.html
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 08:51:38+00:00

Document:
William J. Cleary, Jr., and Paul M. Christiansen for Plaintiff and Appellant.
We find the trial court erred when it (1) ruled this is a SLAPP suit, and then (2) required plaintiff, upon pain of dismissal, to demonstrate the probability of the suit's success. We reach this conclusion because the record demonstrates defendants were not engaged in a valid exercise of their constitutional rights of freedom of speech or petition for redress of grievances. We thus conclude this suit should not have been dismissed. Given our conclusion, it necessarily follows that defendants were not entitled to an award of costs and attorney's fees.
Plaintiff's complaint alleged he was elected to the Laguna Niguel City Council in 1989. In 1994, Paul for Council was the official committee acting on plaintiff's behalf in his bid for another term on the council. The thrust of [85 Cal. App. 4th 1361] the complaint is that defendants interfered with plaintiff's candidacy by influencing the election with illegal campaign contributions for one of his opponents. Plaintiff alleged that defendants' acts violated the Political Reform Act of 1974 (Gov. Code, § 81000 et seq. (the Political Reform Act)).
Defendants disputed plaintiff's analysis of what prompts application of section 425.16 protection. They contended their campaign contribution laundering "need not be constitutionally protected for the anti-SLAPP statute to apply; [rather, their] actions merely must arise from an act in furtherance of defendants' rights of free speech or petition."
In granting defendants' special motion to strike, the trial court ruled that defendants' acts which prompted this suit "were, by definition, acts in furtherance of defendants' constitutional rights of free speech. Political contributions are at the very core of First Amendment activity, ... This is a SLAPP suit." The court also ruled that because plaintiff had not shown he has a reasonable probability of prevailing on any of his causes of action, judgment should be entered in defendants' favor. Thereafter, judgment was so entered, the complaint was dismissed, and defendants were awarded section 425.16 attorney's fees and costs. Plaintiff has now prosecuted this timely appeal.
[1a] In this appeal we address the question as to whether a defendant can properly claim that an action filed against it is a SLAPP suit for which it is [85 Cal. App. 4th 1363] entitled to section 425.16 protection, when its conduct involved actions which violate the law; or to put it another way, can a defendant successfully assert that although the acts in which it engaged, and which are the subject of the plaintiff's complaint, were illegal, they were done in furtherance of the constitutional rights of free speech or petition for redress of grievances in connection with a public issue and therefore the plaintiff is required, under section 425.16, to meet the predicate showing mandated by that statute?
[1b] In the instant case, we need not address the second step of section 425.16's two-step motion to strike process because we hold, as a matter of law, that defendants cannot meet their burden on the first step. As discussed below, the activity of which plaintiff complainsdefendants' campaign money launderingwas not a valid activity undertaken by defendants in furtherance of their constitutional right free speech. This conclusion is established by the factual record before us and is not really disputed by the defendants. Indeed, defendants argue that they are entitled to the benefit of section 425.16 in spite of such illegality.
The making of a political campaign contribution is a type of political speech. "A contribution serves as a general expression of support for the [85 Cal. App. 4th 1366] candidate and his views, ..." (Buckley v. Valeo (1976) 424 U.S. 1, 21 [96 S. Ct. 612, 635, 46 L. Ed. 2d 659, 689], limited on another point in Ryder v. United States (1995) 515 U.S. 177, 183-184 [115 S. Ct. 2031, 2036, 132 L. Ed. 2d 136, 144].) Defendants contend their campaign money laundering activity was taken "in furtherance" of their constitutional right of free speech, and therefore such activity comes within the parameters of section 425.16's protection, even though such activity was found to be illegal. We do not agree with their conclusion.
In Wilcox, supra, 27 Cal.App.4th at page 820, the court gave an example of how conduct may touch on an issue of free speech but not be protected under section 425.16. The court stated that if a defendant who brings a section 425.16 motion to strike shows that the act which prompted the suit [85 Cal. App. 4th 1367] against him was his own suit against a developer, "the defendant would have a prima facie First Amendment defense. [Citation.] But, if the defendant's act was burning down the developer's office as a political protest the defendant's motion to strike could be summarily denied without putting the developer to the burden of establishing the probability of success on the merits in a tort suit against defendant." (27 Cal.App.4th at p. 820.) While laundering campaign contributions may not be as dramatic or physically dangerous as burning down a building, it is equally outside the scope of section 425.16's protection.
In order to avoid any misunderstanding as to the basis for our conclusions, we should make one further point. This case, as we have emphasized, involves a factual context in which defendants have effectively conceded the illegal nature of their election campaign finance activities for which they claim constitutional protection. Thus, there was no dispute on the point and we have concluded, as a matter of law, that such activities are not a valid exercise of constitutional rights as contemplated by section 425.16. However, had there been a factual dispute as to the legality of defendants' actions, then we could not so easily have disposed of defendants' motion.
Plaintiff requests an award of attorney's fees and costs incurred by him in this appeal.  If a statute authorizes an award of attorney's fees at the trial court level, then appellate attorney's fees are also recoverable unless the statute specifically provides otherwise. (Liu v. Moore (1999) 69 Cal. App. 4th 745, 754 [81 Cal. Rptr. 2d 807].) Section 425.16 does not specifically preclude recovery of attorney's fees in appeals involving review of section 425.16 motions to strike. However, as noted above, under section 425.16, a plaintiff may only receive trial court attorney's fees under qualified conditions. Therefore, if plaintiff convinces the trial court that such conditions exist in this case, the trial court should award plaintiff reasonable appellate attorney's fees. In any event, as the prevailing party in this appeal, plaintiff is entitled to his appellate costs under rule 26 of the California Rules Court.
Kitching, J., and Perluss, J., fn. * concurred.
FN 1. The caption of plaintiff's complaint states that the name of the plaintiff is "Paul for Council." However, the complaint contains statements and allegations that show that the real plaintiff is one Paul Christiansen (Christiansen). For example, the complaint: (1) states that "Plaintiff 'Paul for Council' is a now dissolved political action committee of which the sole beneficiary, the candidate, Paul Christiansen, now brings this action"; (2) alleges a cause of action for "interference with prospective contractual advantage," to wit, that because of defendants' actions, Christiansen's benefits as an elected public official terminated; (3) alleges defendants' actions caused Christiansen to suffer emotional distress; and (4) references a violation of Civil Code section 52.1, which provides for suits by individuals whose civil rights have been interfered with. Additionally, at the top of the first page of the complaint, where the name of the attorney of record is commonly placed, "Paul M. Christiansen" and "plaintiff in pro per" appear. We also note that the opposition to defendants' section 425.16 motion to strike the complaint contains a declaration from Christiansen wherein he states he is the plaintiff in this case.
FN 2. Subdivision (b) of section 425.16 states in part: "(1) A cause of action against a person arising from any act of that person in furtherance of the person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue shall be subject to a special motion to strike, unless the court determines that the plaintiff has established that there is a probability that the plaintiff will prevail on the claim.
Subdivision (e) of section 425.16 states: "As used in this section, 'act in furtherance of a person's right of petition or free speech under the United States or California Constitution in connection with a public issue' includes (1) any written or oral statement or writing made before a legislative, executive, or judicial proceeding, or any other official proceeding authorized by law; (2) any written or oral statement or writing made in connection with an issue under consideration or review by a legislative, executive, or judicial body, or any other official proceeding authorized by law; (3) any written or oral statement or writing made in a place open to the public or a public forum in connection with an issue of public interest; (4) or any other conduct in furtherance of the exercise of the constitutional right of petition or the constitutional right of free speech in connection with a public issue or an issue of public interest."
FN 3. One of the purposes of the Political Reform Act is to insure that "[r]eceipts and expenditures in election campaigns ... be fully and truthfully disclosed in order that the voters may be fully informed and improper practices may be inhibited." (Gov. Code, § 81002.) Documents generated in the campaign money laundering case that California's Fair Political Practices Commission brought against defendants state that "[m]aking a contribution in another person's name is one of the most serious types of violations of the Political Reform Act because it denies the public information about where candidates receive their financial support." According to a copy of a newspaper article included in the defendants' section 425.16 moving papers, the Fair Political Practices Commission levied a fine of $94,000 against defendants.
FN 4. Subdivision (c) of section 425.16 provides for awards of costs and attorney's fees under specific circumstances. Regarding such awards to defendants, the subdivision states: "In any action subject to subdivision (b), a prevailing defendant on a special motion to strike shall be entitled to recover his or her attorney's fees and costs." (Ibid.) This provision has been held to provide for an award of only those fees and costs incurred in connection with the motion to strike, not the entire action. (Lafayette Morehouse, Inc. v. Chronicle Publishing Co. (1995) 39 Cal. App. 4th 1379, 1382-1384 [46 Cal. Rptr. 2d 542].) Awards of fees and costs to plaintiffs are also governed by subdivision (c): "If the court finds that a special motion to strike is frivolous or is solely intended to cause unnecessary delay, the court shall award costs and reasonable attorney's fees to a plaintiff prevailing on the motion, pursuant to [Code of Civil Procedure] Section 128.5."

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 § 81002
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