Stephens v. Berry

In Stephens v. Berry (1967) 249 Cal. App. 2d 474, the plaintiffs were involved in a three-car accident. The plaintiffs' car was struck from behind by a car driven by Berry. The impact pushed plaintiffs' car into the rear of a car driven by Reynolds. The plaintiffs filed a complaint mistakenly naming Reynolds as the defendant. The complaint alleged that Reynolds had negligently struck plaintiffs from behind. After the statute of limitations had expired, plaintiffs moved "to amend their complaint so as to insert the name of Berry as a defendant in place of Reynolds." ( Id., at p. 476.) Plaintiffs contended that they had "merely misnamed the proper defendant" and that "the error was purely clerical." ( Id., at p. 478.) The appellate court, however, applied the general rule not permitting an amendment "when the result is to drop one party to the action and add another who up to the time of the amendment was not a party to the proceedings." ( Id., at p. 478.) The court reasoned: "It may be that plaintiffs always intended to sue Berry and not Reynolds, but that is not what they did. They sued Reynolds and asked to substitute Berry only after the statute had run against their claim. The case is not one of misnomer, but rather one of failure to name the right party as a defendant, and the general rule . . . must govern." ( Id., at p. 479.)