5DCA Oral Argument - 2026/04/15 - Apr 15, 2026
argument5DCA Oral Argument - 2026/04/15
California Fifth District Court of Appeal
2h 25m
8 chapters
transcribed 10 days ago
official recording ↗
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What were the initial appearances and procedural setup for the oral argument?
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Mm-hmm.
Mm-hmm.
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Whoa.
Let's call the uh first man of L P O D Incorporated versus Schnitzer Steel Industries. Please state your appearances.
Good morning. This is Ari Stiller on behalf of DFLM.
Morning, Your Honor, Andrew Lanfear for Schnitzer Steel.
Thank you very much. And um Good
morning, Honor. I'm sorry, I
stepped on your line.
Good morning, Your Honor. Valerie Rojas, for respondent Baybiew.
Thank you very much. And uh I would just note that uh we're very familiar with the facts of this case and ask that you keep that in mind uh during um during your argument. I believe uh Mr. Suller, you've requested twenty minutes.
Yes, sir.
Did you wish to reserve some portion of that time?
Yes, five minutes.
Okay, and you can watch the screen, I will do so as well and hopefully uh remind you and you've uh split the twenty minutes thirteen and seven, I believe. Yes, Your Honor. Very well. Um, with that said, please proceed.
Thank you, Your Honor. And may it please the court. The jury's verdict here was tainted by several critical errors. I'd like to focus today on the instructional errors and also the res judicata or conclusive impact of the agency's hazardous waste determination, unless the court has any other specific questions. I think that the the main the the main crux of of the argument, I expect, sort of all around the jury instructions because there were two important errors that tainted the verdict here and caused prejudice to LPOD and M and W properties. The wastewater card out is the the what the court instructed the jury on in They waste.
An inapplicable portion of the health and safety code and failed to instruct the jury on the applicable portion that fits with the facts of this case. Yeah.
The wastewater carve out is in this is part of special instruction fix, often safety code section 25250.1, and the court gave this instruction. Oh waste?
Instruction over the appellant's objection. Instructing on the this wastewater cargout for de minimis quantities of used oil. It's for wastewater contaminated with de minimis quantities of used oil. And that's in section two five two five zero point one A. And this is what the jury was instructed on. It's at uh AA page number 4062. And this is an important point because The facts here are that this putting fluid or cutting oil, there's been a little semantic debate about what we call it. I'm comfortable calling it cutting fluid. And the what this this fluid was sprayed onto aluminum and and was still part of the aluminum puttings when they were delivered to Schnitzer. The reason why that fact pattern doesn't fit this statutory definition on which the jury was instructed is that the definition defines the minimum quantities of used oil as small spills, leaks, or drippings from pumps, machinery, pipes, and other similar equipment during normal operations.
Even if we accept I mean there's really no dispute about the facts here. The fact that the cutting fluid was sprayed onto the aluminum and then was still part of the aluminum turnings when they were delivered to Schnitzer, that's not in dispute. The fluid then drained into a drain on the floor once it got to Schnitzer's property. It can't the the idea of a small spill leaker dripping from pump's machine. Machinery, etc. That's like, you know, when you drive your car home and you park it in the garage and there's a little bit of a dripping effort. It's not 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of this oily water that Schnitzer produced every two weeks. And it not only does it not come from a qualified source under this section, the sources being the machinery, etc.
Small spills, but it's not small. The undisputed facts are that 2,000 to 3,000 gallons of this oil and rainwater mixture were emitted or stored by Schnitzer every two weeks. And so it's easy to see how the jury could be confused by this instruction because. Because Schnitzer and Bayview argued that this, you know, we shouldn't call this stuff used oil, we shouldn't call it hazardous waste used oil, because it's mainly water. It's 95% water, and the used oil has been heavily diluted.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What were the initial appearances and procedural setup for the oral argument?
1:45–33:32
2
How did the parties argue that the wastewater carve‑out jury instruction was erroneous?
33:32–47:26
3
Why does the plaintiff claim the agency’s hazardous‑waste determination should have preclusive effect?
47:26–1:08:19
4
What are the key issues raised in the Marsden claims during resentencing?
1:08:19–1:23:11
5
How do the parties propose using forfeiture or habeas corpus as a remedy for the Marsden issues?
1:23:11–1:39:06
6
What is the central dispute in the RMHP versus Bogdanov property easement case?
1:39:06–1:56:39
7
How does the survey evidence support claims of encroachment and affect the easement analysis?
1:56:39–2:16:35
8
What relief do the parties seek in their closing arguments?
2:16:35–2:25:34