Last Friday, the California Supreme Court granted review in Reid v. Google, Inc., case no. S158965. The Supreme Court states the following as one of the issues for review: “Are evidentiary objections not expressly ruled on at the time of decision on a summary judgment motion preserved for appeal?”
Until now, the answer has generally been “no.” That’s a rule that has always rankled me because securing a ruling can be out of the objecting party’s hands. No matter how much prodding one does, the court may fail to rule.
Tom Caso at the Opening Brief pointed out this likelihood last October, when he covered a series of decisions creating a conflict on this issue in the courts of appeal. CalBizLit posted on Friday that trial court practice as to how a court purports to rule on the objections has been “all over the map.”
It will be good to get this issue settled. The parties have only so much control over the state of the record sometimes. (Just ask the Oakland Raiders, for an example in another context.)