National Technical Systems v. Superior Court

In National Technical Systems v. Superior Court (2002) 97 Cal.App.4th 415, a subcontractor who had been only partially paid by the general contractor on a public works project obtained a judgment against the general contractor after a jury trial. In a separate action, the subcontractor sought recovery from the general contractor's surety on the stop notice release bond. The trial court in the action against the surety granted a motion in limine precluding evidence of the previous trial and judgment against the general contractor. ( Id. at pp. 418-420.) Because the surety was not a party to the original judgment, the Court of Appeal ruled that it was not bound by the judgment. Therefore, the Court of Appeal upheld the trial court's grant of the motion in limine to the extent it precluded evidence of the judgment against the general contractor. ( Id. at pp. 421-423.)