6DCA Oral Argument - 2025/12/02 Morning Session - Dec 02, 2025
argument6DCA Oral Argument - 2025/12/02 Morning Session
California Sixth District Court of Appeal
2h 5m
7 chapters
transcribed 7 days ago
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What announcements and procedural rules does the court give at the start of the session?
Good
morning. Please be seated. Welcome to the 6th District Court of Appeal for oral argument today. We have several cases on calendar this morning. We will be proceeding through the calendar apace with no change in order. There are a few announcements that I do want to make before we commence. The court is pleased to be able to offer remote access to parties and attorneys who request it. For those of you who are sitting in the audience, if an attorney or a party is appearing remotely, you will be able to hear everything, but you will not be able to see. If you want both the video and the auditory experience, you can step into the waiting room where we have a live stream. You should also know that all Court of Appeal oral arguments are archived almost immediately after argument, and there you would be able to both see and hear everything that occurs.
Of course, if you're participating in the proceedings, we have devices for you, and the Court does as well, so we're able to see and hear. In addition, speaking of technology, the Court justices have our laptops on the bench. So we have access to the briefs, the record, our notes, and so forth. So if you see us looking off to the right or the left, I suppose, right today, then that's what we're accessing there. So give me just a moment to get connected myself, and then we'll proceed.
Matter on calendar is H052432, the County of Santa Cruz plaintiff and appellant versus City of Santa Cruz defendant and respondent. What I'd like to do is take appearances from counsel first at the podium, confirm your time estimates, and then we'll hear argument. So appearing for appellant, County of Santa Cruz today.
Good morning, Justice. Nagin Sawitsky for the county. I'm sorry, can you
speak up a little
bit? Nagin Sawitsky for the county.
Thank you.
That goes up and down, too. If you need to lower it, that's absolutely fine. There you go. All right. And confirming 10 minutes to open, five for rebuttal? Yes. All right. Thank you very much. And appearing for the City of Santa Cruz.
Good morning, Your Honors. Alex Geis for the City of Santa Cruz.
All right. Thank you. And your estimate is 15 minutes?
Yes, that's correct.
All right. Thank you very much. Let's return to counsel for the county, please. You may proceed.
Good morning, justices, and may it please the court. This is a pleadings case, and the county met the low bar.
I'm sorry, I'm a little hard of hearing, so you'll have to speak up a little more.
This is a pleadings case, and the county met the low bar necessary to obtain leave to amend its complaint to add a cause of action for inverse condemnation. The trial court abused its discretion when it denied the county the ability to amend finding binding precedent upon it illogical and declining to follow that precedent in Marin Municipal Water District versus Mill Valley. That case held that a public entity can be a plaintiff in a inverse condemnation cause of action. And that is what the county attempted to do when it amended its complaint to add inverse.
So, Council, if I can just interrupt you for a moment here. We understand the issue presented, I think. Let me just ask, and I'm not trying to trap you, just to make sure we're on the same page in terms of the law. So would you agree that in terms of an action for inverse condemnation, the county here must allege that the city of Santa Cruz substantially participated in the planning, approval, construction, or operation of a public project or improvement, public improvement. Yes?
Yes, I do agree with that. And I think that the city owns this outfall drainage pipe where the erosion took place.
So that takes us to then the second issue in terms of just understanding the law here. So there's also the element of causation. So what would have to be demonstrated is that the damage to the property here, the road, I suppose, must occur as a result of the public improvement, right? Correct. Okay. All right. Thank you. You go ahead. Can I actually ask you a factual question? There's a reference in the record to scouring. What does that mean?
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
What announcements and procedural rules does the court give at the start of the session?
4:56–22:33
2
What are the main legal issues in the County of Santa Cruz vs. City of Santa Cruz inverse‑condemnation case?
22:33–50:16
3
How does the appellant argue that the trial court’s findings on custody and visitation are unsupported?
50:16–1:06:57
4
What arguments are presented in the Scotts Valley Unified School District case about due‑care and student discipline?
1:06:57–1:22:49
5
How do the parties interpret the arbitration provisions in the ATU Local 265 vs. VTA dispute?
1:22:49–1:39:09
6
What questions do the justices raise about forfeiture clauses and time‑limit defenses in the collective‑bargaining agreement?
1:39:09–1:59:24
7
How do the counsel address the “may vs. shall” language and its effect on arbitration rights?
1:59:24–2:05:36
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