It Endorsed The Reasoning In The Charton Opinion.
In Mosley v. Pacifica Bakersfield, L.P., Case No. F084699 (5th Dist. Sept. 20, 2024) (unpublished), a co-defendant dismissed right before trial was awarded a little over $28,000 in routine costs against plaintiff, who won sizable damages. The Fifth District affirmed, deciding that (1) CCP § 1032(a)(4) and (b) made the dismissed defendant a prevailing party, and (2) Charton, 247 Cal.App.4th 730, 734 correctly reasoned the “unity of interest” principle was repealed from the costs statute such that a lower court has no mandatory duty to apportion where multiple defendants are represented by the same counsel.