“A Party Cannot Be Sanctioned Twice For the Same Misconduct.”
Presiding Justice Gilbert, who has a unique writing style, summed up the “end result” in Marriage of Anka & Yeager, Case No. B289610 (2d Dist., Div. 6 Aug. 19, 2019) (unpublished) this way: “A party cannot be sanctioned twice for the same misconduct.”
In this case, a trial judge earlier imposed sanctions against a mother and her attorney to the tune of $50,000, jointly and severally (payable to the superior court), for disclosing confidential information contained in a child custody evaluation report, which authorizes a lower court to impose monetary sanctions under Family Code section 3111(d). Mother and her attorney appealed, with the 2/6 DCA affirming the sanctions award against the attorney, but not as to mother. While the appeal was pending, father made a motion for attorney’s fees and costs for the appeal as additional sanctions, which was denied by the trial judge.
The 2/6 DCA affirmed the “further” sanctions denial. The problem here was that the trial court had previously imposed sanctions for attorney’s conduct, such that “[i]t cannot now impose additional sanctions for the same misconduct.” (Sabado v. Moraga, 189 Cal.App.3d 1, 10-11 (1987).)