Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
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v.
LED ZEPPELIN; JAMES PATRICK
PAGE; ROBERT ANTHONY PLANT;
JOHN PAUL JONES; SUPER HYPE
PUBLISHING, INC.; WARNER MUSIC
GROUP CORP., Parent of
WARNER/CHAPPELL MUSIC, INC.;
ATLANTIC RECORDING
CORPORATION; RHINO
ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY,
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Plaintiff,
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST
FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE OF
DOCUMENTS FILED AND
ORDERS ISSUED IN PROBATE
COURT REGARDING THE
ESTATE OF RANDY CRAIG
WOLFE
Trial:
Time:
Courtroom:
Defendants.
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Pursuant to Fed. R. Evid. 201 (c) and (f), Plaintiff Michael Skidmore, as trustee for
the Randy Craig Wolfe Trust, respectfully requests this Court to take judicial notice of
certain documents filed and orders issued in the Probate Court of the Superior Court of
the State of California for the County of Ventura in connection with the Estate of Randy
Craig Wolfe.
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A.
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Pearl, filed a petition in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of
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3.
(Order
On August 11, 1997, the Superior Court granted the petition and appointed
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Sherman Pearl as conservator for the estate of Randy Craig Wolfe. At that hearing,
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Bernice Pearl and Quinn Wolfe, who was the minor son of Randy Craig Wolfe, were
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present. Quinn Wolfe was also represented at the hearing by attorney David F. Peterson.
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(Order Appointing Probate Conservator dated August 11, 1997, Exhibit A, B.)
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4.
On March 29, 1999, Bernice Pearl was appointed conservator of the estate as
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5.
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petition, Bernice Pearl stated she did not believe the interests of Quinn Wolfe were being
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adequately represented at the time. (Petition For Instructions And For Appointment Of
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6.
On July 26, 1999, the Superior Court held a hearing on the petition for
appointment of guardian ad litem for Quinn Wolfe. Quinn Wolfe was present in the
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE
courtroom during the hearing and was represented by attorney David Peterson. (Minute
7.
On July 27, 1999, the Superior Court issued an order appointing the Public
Guardian as Guardian Ad Litem for Quinn Wolfe. (Order Appointing Public Guardian as
8.
On February 19, 2002, the Guardian Ad Litem for Quinn Wolfe, and Bernice
Pearl, filed a Stipulation in the Superior Court for Substituted Judgment to Create and
Fund Revocable Living Trust and Execute a Pour Over Will. (Stipulation And Order For
Substituted Judgment to Create and Fund Revocable Living Trust, Exhibit H.) Under the
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a. Randy Craig Wolfe was deemed to be a missing person who has been
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missing for more than five years and may be presumed to be deceased;
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trust without further order of the court upon Order of the Court finding
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d. The proposed trust shall be funded with all royalty, copyright and other
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unreleased music;
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9.
Current and Report by Conservator Bernice Pearl in which she informed the Superior
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE
Court of the status of the estate and confirmed in paragraph 7(d) that Petitioner has
delivered to her attorneys office for delivery to Quinn Alexander Wolfe all cash assets
I.)
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On May 22, 2002, Quinn Alexander Wolfe filed a document in the Superior
document, Quinn Alexander Wolfe acknowledged that Bernice Pearl, as conservator, had
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12.
On June 21, 2002, the Superior Court issued an order confirming that the
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cash in the checking account and CD accounts at Wells Fargo Bank have been distributed
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13.
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receipts, that Bernice C. Pearl, has paid all sums of money due from her as conservator of
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[Randy Craig Wolfe] under order of the Court, and has delivered all property of the estate
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14.
(Order of Final
There has been no activity on the probate court docket since December 8,
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2003, and no action, motion, and/or petition has been filed by Quinn Wolfe since
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In connection with the foregoing facts, Plaintiff asks the Court to take judicial
notice of the documents referenced above as Exhibits A through M.
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE
B.
The Court Has Authority To Take Judicial Notice Of The Foregoing Facts
And Documents
The court may take judicial notice at any stage of the litigation. Fed. R. Evid. 201.
It is also well established that a court may take judicial notice of judicial proceedings in
other courts. Rosales-Martinez v. Palmer, 753 F.3d 890, 894 (9th Cir. 2014).
Judicial records are a source of reasonably indisputable accuracy when they record
some judicial action such as dismissing an action, granting a motion, or finding a fact.
See e.g. Thompson v. R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co., 760 F.3d 913, 918 (8th Cir. 2014)
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surrounding plaintiffs release from jail); Colonial Leasing Co. of New Eng., Inc. v.
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Logistics Control Group Intern., 762 F.2d 454, 459 (5th Cir. 1985) (state court records
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are a source whose accuracy cannot reasonably be questioned where the fact to be noticed
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District courts have taken notice of various documents filed in probate court.
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Gillette v. Wilson Sonsini Group Welfare Ben. Plan, 2014 WL 5511337, at *2 (D. Or.
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The fact that [a] County Probate Court appointed [a certain individual] as
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(D.S.C. May 30, 2007) (Based on the probate courts record, one could not
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reasonably dispute that [a certain individual] has been named conservator for
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the estate.)
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C.
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Throughout this case, Defendants have repeatedly challenged the validity of the
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Trust of Randy Craig Wolfe (Trust), which this court has thus far rejected. (Doc. No.
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE
889, at p. 2.) Plaintiffs anticipate that during trial, Defendants may seek to elicit the
testimony of Quinn Wolfe, the son of Randy Craig Wolfe, to support their affirmative
defense that the Trust is invalid and consequently not the copyright owner of Taurus.
Quinn Wolfe has no legal basis for making that argument, but this court tentatively
denied Plaintiffs motion in limine on the subject and unless the courts final ruling is
different, Plaintiff anticipates that Defendants will seek to have Quinn Wolfe testify if for
no other reason to infer to the jury that Plaintiff is somehow being unfair or has taken
The above referenced facts and documents are relevant because they reflect the
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judicial action and legal findings of the Probate Court during the pendency of the probate
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PLAINTIFFS REQUEST FOR JUDICIAL NOTICE