Court Opinion

ID: 9792519
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-31 02:30:21.425253+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:37:43.432019
License: Public Domain

MOSK, J.
I concur.
However, I cannot join in the implied criticism of Holtz v. San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit Dist. (1976) 17 Cal.3d 648 [131 Cal.Rptr. 646, 552 P.2d 430]. Holtz was a unanimous opinion of this court, rendered in an inverse condemnation matter. The court interpreted the provisions of what is now Code of Civil Procedure section 1036 (hereafter section 1036) and found them to be unambiguous on the subject of attorney fees to the prevailing party.
Whether section 1036 is wise may well be debatable, but the debate must be conducted in legislative halls and not in a judicial opinion. Since section 1036 applies only to inverse condemnation proceedings, and the instant case does not involve inverse condemnation, any discussion of the code section is misplaced. The doctrine of stare decisis applies and requires us to adhere to the rule of Holtz in an appropriate case. As the majority indicate, this is not such a case.