Elmassian v. Flores (2021)

Citation: Elmassian v. Flores (2021)
Parent Document: Elmassian v. Flores (2021)
Jurisdiction: California (state)
Effective Date: 2021-09-27
Original Source: https://www.courtlistener.com/opinion/5291317/elmassian-v-flores/ ↗

Full Text

2,102 chars

2
complex where defendant lived. The jury was thus not allowed to consider whether defendant
should prevail on her defense as to domestic violence grounds in the action, and determined
plaintiff proved defendant committed a nuisance on the property. The court entered judgment
in plaintiff’s favor, and defendant appealed.
We conclude the court erred in granting a directed verdict regarding the defense. There
was evidence presented of defendant having committed a nuisance based upon domestic
violence and non-domestic violence acts, and we cannot tell from the jury’s verdict on which
grounds the jury rested its decision. Viewing the evidence in the light most favorable to the
party opposing the directed verdict and without considering the credibility of the witnesses, as
we are required to do on appellate review, we find there was substantial evidence supporting
the domestic violence defense. We thus reverse the judgment.
BACKGROUND
Complaint and Defense
Plaintiff filed the complaint on May 16, 2019,2 alleging defendant and her husband
William Flores (Will)3 failed to comply with a three-day notice to quit their apartment unit,
served on May 10. The notice provided the eviction was based on maintaining, permitting, or
committing a nuisance, stating, “Lessees have engaged in repeated hostile threats towards the
other tenants in the building including, but not limited to, blocking the parking access and
spaces of the other tenants in the building, and damaging the vehicles of the other tenants in the
building. Lessees constantly have a large number of invitees that loiter on the property who are
actively using and selling narcotics on the premises. Lessees and their guests routinely harass
and intimidate the other tenants in the building by threatening gang violence type retaliation if
the other tenants make any complaints about them.”
Defendant answered the complaint, generally denying plaintiff’s allegations, and
asserting several defenses. On the day trial started, during a case management conference,

Other Sections in This Document (74)

Full Text