1The topic of this issue of the newsletter is requesting judicial notice in California.

The statutes governing judicial notice are contained in Evidence Code Sections 450 through 460. There is mandatory judicial notice and discretionary judicial notice. Requesting judicial notice of certain matters is very helpful in certain situations. Evidence Code 451 states that the Court must take judicial notice of the following matters: (a) The decisional, constitutional, and public statutory law of this state and of the United States and the provisions of any charter described in Section 3, 4, or 5 of Article XI of the California Constitution. (b) Any matter made a subject of judicial notice by Section 11343.6, 11344.6, or 18576 of the Government Code or by Section 1507 of Title 44 of the United States Code. (c) Rules of professional conduct for members of the bar adopted pursuant to Section 6076 of the Business and Professions Code and rules of practice and procedure for the courts of this state adopted by the Judicial Council. (d) Rules of pleading, practice, and procedure prescribed by the United States Supreme Court, such as the Rules of the United States Supreme Court, the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, the Admiralty Rules, the Rules of the Court of Claims, the Rules of the Customs Court, and the General Orders and Forms in Bankruptcy. (e) The true signification of all English words and phrases and of all legal expressions. (f) Facts and propositions of generalized knowledge that are so universally known that they cannot reasonably be the subject of dispute. Evidence Code 452 states that the Court may take judicial notice of the following matters: (a) The decisional, constitutional, and statutory law of any state of the United States and the resolutions and private acts of the Congress of the United States and of the Legislature of this state. (b) Regulations and legislative enactments issued by or under the authority of the United States or any public entity in the United States. (c) Official acts of the legislative, executive, and judicial departments of the United States and of any state of the United States. (d) Records of (1) any court of this state or (2) any court of record of the United States or of any state of the United States. (e) Rules of court of (1) any court of this state or (2) any court of record of the United States or of any state of the United States. (f) The law of an organization of nations and of foreign nations and public entities in foreign nations. (g) Facts and propositions that are of such common knowledge within the territorial jurisdiction of the court that they cannot reasonably be the subject of dispute.

(h) Facts and propositions that are not reasonably subject to dispute and are capable of immediate and accurate determination by resort to sources of reasonably indisputable accuracy. Judicial notice may not be taken of any matter unless authorized or required by law. See Evidence Code 450. Any party requesting judicial notice must give notice of such request to each adverse party to enable that party to meet the request, and must furnish the Court with sufficient information to enable it to take judicial notice of the matter. See Evidence Code 453. Note that judicial notice of other Court records and files is limited to matters that are indisputably true. See Fremont Indem. Co. v. Fremont Gen. Corp. (2007) 148 Cal.App. 4th 97, 113. This means that judicial notice is limited to the orders and judgments in the other court file, as distinguished from the contents of documents filed therein. However, there are exceptions to this rule when a party amends a pleading, particularly a verified pleading and omits material factual allegations that were included in the original pleading without an adequate explanation. The general rule is that material factual allegations in a verified pleading that are omitted in a subsequent amended pleading with a demurrer to the later pleading. Shoemaker v. Myers (1990) 52 Cal. 3d 1, 13. Plaintiff can avoid the effect of earlier admissions by including in the complaint a satisfactory explanation why the earlier admissions are incorrect. Absent such explanation, however, the self-destructive allegations in the earlier pleading or discovery response are read into the complaint, and allegations inconsistent therewith treated as sham and disregarded. Owens v. Kings Supermarket (1988) 198 Cal. App. 3d 379, 384. Demurrers have been sustained due to inconsistent statements made by the pleader in a different lawsuit. The principle is that of truthful pleading Cantu v. Resolution Trust Corp. (1992) 4 Cal.App. 4th 857, 877878. Clearly then, judicial notice is a very useful tool for any party involved in California civil litigation. They just need to be aware of its limitations and understand that while the Court must take judicial notice of certain matters, and may take judicial notice of certain other matters, not all matters can be judicially noticed. If you enjoy this newsletter, tell others about it. They can subscribe by visiting the following link: http://www.legaldocspro.net/newsletter.htm Have a great week and thanks for being a subscriber. Yours Truly, Stan Burman The author of this newsletter, Stan Burman, is a freelance paralegal who has worked in California litigation since 1995.

The author's website: http://www.legaldocspro.net View numerous sample documents sold by the author: http://www.scribd.com/legaldocspro Copyright 2012 Stan Burman. All rights reserved. DISCLAIMER: Please note that the author of this newsletter, Stan Burman is NOT an attorney and as such is unable to provide any specific legal advice. The author is NOT engaged in providing any legal, financial, or other professional services, and any information contained in this newsletter is NOT intended to constitute legal advice. These materials and information contained in this newsletter have been prepared by Stan Burman for informational purposes only and are not legal advice. Transmission of the information contained in this newsletter is not intended to create, and receipt does not constitute, any business relationship between the sender and receiver. Subscribers and any other readers should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel.