Court Opinion

ID: 9782106
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-30 17:59:05.355963+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T07:34:47.928800
License: Public Domain

WERDEGAR, J., Concurring.
I agree that the superior court’s local rule and trial scheduling order were inconsistent with statutory provisions of the Evidence Code and Code of Civil Procedure, particularly the hearsay rule of Evidence Code section 1200. (Maj. opn., ante, at pp. 1354—1363.) I also agree the trial court abused its discretion in excluding petitioner’s exhibits; because the rule and order were inconsistent with state law, enforcing these invalid measures to exclude virtually all of a party’s evidence was necessarily an abuse of discretion. But given the existence of the local rule and order at the time of trial, I would not conclude that the trial judge acted arbitrarily or unduly “mechanically” in excluding petitioner’s evidence. (See maj. opn., ante, at p. 1365.) The trial court excused one breach of the order (petitioner’s late submission of his exhibits) and explained to petitioner the other (failure of petitioner’s declaration to establish the foundation for his exhibits). The court then offered petitioner an opportunity to cure the violation, an opportunity petitioner, for whatever reason, did not pursue. Despite petitioner’s sudden offer to give up his interest in the family home, moreover, the court ordered his interest preserved. In my view, the trial court’s rule and order, rather than the particular actions of the court in this case, are to blame for the exclusion of petitioner’s evidence.
*1370Finally, while I join the majority in recommending that the Judicial Council study ways for trial courts to balance efficiency and fairness in dissolution proceedings (maj. opn., ante, at p. 1369, fn. 20), I find it unnecessary to join the majority’s policy critique of the Contra Costa County rule and order (id. at pp. 1365-1369). The court properly holds the local rule and order invalid because they conflict with state statutes, not because they are poor policy. The criticisms voiced by family law practitioners, although important, would be better considered by the Judicial Council or the Legislature than by this court. As we have sound statutory grounds for holding the local rule and order invalid, I would leave the weighing of competing policy, at least in the first instance, to other institutions.