§6.08 Conduct of Trial

The parties in a UD action have the right to a jury trial unless that right is waived, either expressly or by failure to timely demand a jury trial. [See CCP §§1171, 631.] The jury demand must be made within 5 days after notice of trial setting, with another 5 days added if the clerk’s notice is sent by mail. [See CCP §§631(d)(4), 1013(a).] Jury fees must be deposited with the court 5 days before the trial date, but you should not deny a tenant’s request for a jury trial even when the jury fees are not timely posted, unless it would prejudice the landlord. [See CCP §631(b), (d)(5); Johnson-Stovall v Superior Court (1993) 17 CA4th 808, 809–812.]

The landlord has the burden of proving all of the essential elements of the prima facie case, such as [see EC §500; Ahlers v Barrett (1906) 4 CA 158, 160]:

• The existence of a landlord-tenant relationship,
• The tenant’s wrongful occupation of the premises,
• Proper service of all required notices, and
• The tenant’s default in payment of rent.

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You have the right to examine the witnesses called by the parties. You should allow the parties to conclude their examination, then intervene if additional questions (1) are necessary to clarify ambiguities in the witness’s testimony; (2) might be helpful to the jury’s understanding of the witness’s testimony on a crucial point; or, (3) in a nonjury trial, might elicit answers from the witness that would affect your decision. [See People v Hawkins (1995) 10 C4th 920, 947–948, overruled on other ground in People v Lasko (2000) 23 C4th 101, 110.] In a nonjury trial, you may also call a self-represented party to the stand to expedite the proceedings; however, any questioning you do should be limited to minor clarifications. You should carefully avoid intervening to assist a self-represented party with the presentation of his or her case.