Neumann vs. Mull

Superior Court of the State of California County of Orange TENTATIVE RULINGS FOR DEPARTMENT N16

HON. Donald F. Gaffney

Counsel and Parties Please Note: Law and Motion in Department N16 is heard on Wednesdays at 9:00 a.m.

Date: May 13, 2026

Tentative Rulings will be posted on the Internet on the day before the hearing by 5:00 p.m. [or earlier] whenever possible. To submit on the tentative ruling, please contact the clerk at (657) 622-5616, after contacting opposing party/counsel. Prevailing party shall give notice of the Ruling and prepare the Order/Judgment for the Court’s signature if required.

NOTE: After posting of tentative rulings, the Court will not take the motion off calendar and will grant a continuance of the motion only upon stipulation of all affected parties.

If no appearances are made on the calendared motion date, then oral argument will be deemed to have been waived and the tentative ruling will become the Court’s final ruling.

# Case Name Tentative 1 Heredia vs. TENTATIVE RULING: American Honda Motor Motion to Strike CO., Inc. Defendant American Honda Motor, Inc., moves to strike portions of the Complaint of Plaintiffs Yazmin Heredia and Julio Heredia). The motion is DENIED as moot.

The motion to strike is rendered moot by this court’s granting judgment on the pleadings. (See ROA # 71.)

Moving party is ordered to give notice.

2 Neumann vs. TENTATIVE RULING: Mull For the reasons set forth below, the hearing on Defendant JM Welding Products, LLC’s demurrer and motion to strike the third amended complaint by Plaintiff Richard Warren Neumann Jr., is CONTINUED to August 19, 2026.

Defendant served the demurrer and motion to strike on Plaintiff by electronic means on February 16, 2026. Plaintiff, however, is a self-

represented party. Notably, Plaintiff did not file an opposition to the motion.

Self-represented parties must be served by non-electronic methods unless they affirmatively consent to electronic service, by: (1) serving a notice on all parties and filing the notice with the court, or (2) manifesting affirmative consent through electronic means with the court or the court’s electronic filing service provider, and concurrently providing the party’s electronic address with that consent for the purpose of receiving electronic service. (Code Civ. Proc., § 1010.6, subd. (c)(3); Cal. Rules Ct., Rule 2.251(b)(1)(B).)

Here, there is nothing in the record that establishes that Plaintiff, who is self-represented, affirmatively consented to electronic service in a manner that the code requires. Indeed, the only consent to electronic service on the docket (ROA #57) was filed by Defendant.

For this reason, the hearing on the demurrer and motion to strike is continued to August 19, 2026. This hearing date coincides with another demurrer by other defendants to the third amended complaint and a motion by Plaintiff to strike defendants’ demurrers/motions to strike. The court finds that resolving all issues related to the third amended complaint at once will also be most efficient.

Moving Defendant to serve Plaintiff/remaining parties notice of the continued hearing along with the moving papers on the demurrer and motion to strike by mail in a manner that provides Plaintiff/remaining parties with sufficient notice under the code.

Moving Defendant to give notice.

3 Palm vs. NB TENTATIVE RULING: Palmilla LLC For the reasons set forth below, this action is stayed as against Defendant Johan Frankenberger only, until a determination by a bankruptcy court that this action may proceed in this court, except Plaintiff may obtain discovery from Johan Frankenberger, as a witness, relating to Defendant NB Palmilla, LLC d/b/a Sharkeez’s liability on Plaintiff’s claims.

The parties are ordered to meet and confer as set forth below.

Request for Judicial Notice

Defendant’s request for judicial notice of Exhibits 1-3 is GRANTED. (Evid. Code § 452(d)(2)).