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AUSTIN v. CITY OF BURBANK (2021)

Court of Appeal, Second District, Division 8, California.2021-07-12No. B307677

Summary

Holding. The appeal is dismissed because the notice of appeal was filed one day after the statutory deadline to petition for an extraordinary writ, which is a jurisdictional requirement that cannot be overlooked absent extraordinary circumstances.

Ronald Austin sought a writ of mandate to compel the City of Burbank to release public records under the California Public Records Act after the city denied his initial request. A trial court denied Austin's petition by minute order on July 14, 2020, and a judgment was entered on July 24, 2020. Austin filed a notice of appeal on August 4, 2020, more than a day after the deadline to file a petition for an extraordinary writ.

The appellate court granted the city's motion to dismiss. California law provides that orders denying Public Records Act petitions may only be challenged through a petition for an extraordinary writ filed within 20 days after service of written notice of the order's entry. Because Austin waived notice of the trial court's July 14 ruling, the deadline to file a writ petition was August 3, 2020. Austin's notice of appeal, filed on August 4, missed this deadline by one day. The court declined to treat Austin's appeal as a writ petition, noting his prior experience with multiple similar filings and finding no extraordinary circumstances warranting an exception to the jurisdictional deadline.

Summary generated by law.co from the public-domain opinion. The opinion text itself is public domain.

Key issues

  • Whether orders denying California Public Records Act petitions are appealable or reviewable only by extraordinary writ
  • Whether a one-day delay in filing a writ petition is excused by extraordinary circumstances
  • Whether the statutory deadline for filing a writ petition is jurisdictional and fatal if missed

Procedural posture

The City of Burbank moved to dismiss an appeal filed by Austin from a trial court judgment denying his petition for a writ of mandate compelling release of public records.

Authorities cited

No cited authorities resolved to law.co cases yet.

Opinion

ORDER DISMISSING APPEAL

After defendant City of Burbank denied plaintiff Ronald Austins request for information pursuant to the California Public Records Act (Gov. Code, § 6250 et seq.), plaintiff petitioned for a writ of mandate seeking an order compelling defendants release of records under section 6259. On July 14, 2020, the trial court entered a minute order denying plaintiffs petition, stating that the petition was “denied” and that it was adopting its tentative ruling as its “final ruling.” The minute order also directed defendant to prepare a proposed judgment. Plaintiffs counsel waived notice of the courts July 14 ruling. The trial court signed the proposed judgment on July 24, 2020, and notice of entry of judgment was mailed that same day. On August 4, 2020, plaintiff filed a notice of appeal from the July 24, 2020 judgment. Plaintiff did not file a petition for extraordinary writ.

Defendant moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing that the trial courts order may only be challenged by a petition for extraordinary writ, and that in any event, the notice of appeal was untimely pursuant to Government Code section 6259, subdivision (c).

We have reviewed the parties’ briefs, and the League of California Cities’ amicus brief on behalf of defendant, and we take judicial notice of over 30 similar petitions filed by plaintiff, who was represented by counsel in the trial court, between October 2019 and August 2020.

We grant the motion to dismiss. The trial courts July 14, 2020 order is not appealable, but may be reviewed only by “petition ․ for the issuance of an extraordinary writ” filed “within 20 days after service upon the party of written notice of entry of the order.” (Gov. Code, § 6259, subd. (c).) Because plaintiff waived notice at the July 14, 2020 hearing, the last day to petition this court was August 3, 2020. Plaintiff filed his notice of appeal one day after the deadline to file a writ petition and has not shown any extraordinary circumstances justifying this court treating his appeal as an extraordinary writ. Plaintiffs multiple filings demonstrate familiarity with California Public Records Act litigation. We therefore decline to exercise our discretion to consider plaintiffs appeal as an extraordinary writ. Even if we were to treat the appeal as an extraordinary writ, we would lack jurisdiction to consider it because the notice of appeal was filed one day after the deadline to file a writ petition. (§ 6259, subd. (c); see also MinCal Consumer Law Group v. Carlsbad Police Department (2013) 214 Cal.App.4th 259, 263, 265-266, 153 Cal.Rptr.3d 577 [one-day delay is fatal because time limit for writ review is jurisdictional].) Therefore, the appeal is dismissed.