A recent court filing reveals a contentious legal battle that culminated in monetary sanctions against the plaintiff and her attorney for maintaining a lawsuit without sufficient evidence. On September 12, 2024, Tibrea L. Cagle filed a complaint in the Superior Court of Los Angeles County against Amor L. Armour, accusing him of negligently operating a motor vehicle and causing severe injuries.
The case began in May 2021 when Cagle alleged that Armour's negligent driving resulted in grievous bodily harm. The complaint also named Maven Drive, LLC, and Maven LSG, LTD LSR as defendants. However, the lawsuit took several turns over the next two years. In June 2022, after Cagle and her attorney Irving Pedroza failed to verify discovery responses and canceled depositions on short notice, Armour moved to compel discovery and requested sanctions. By October 2022, Cagle amended her complaint to include another driver, Ki Hwan Kim, whom she claimed was responsible for her injuries.
During her deposition in December 2022, Cagle testified that two other drivers—Kim and Laura Harrier—were responsible for her injuries. She admitted that Kim's van struck her first and then Harrier's car backed over her head while she lay on the road. Despite this testimony undermining her claims against Armour, Cagle did not dismiss the action against him.
In early February 2023, Pedroza indicated they would no longer pursue the claim but did not formally withdraw from the case or file for dismissal within the court-ordered timeframe. Consequently, on March 20, 2023, Armour served a motion for terminating and monetary sanctions under section 128.7 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The motion argued that Cagle and Pedroza knew there was no evidentiary support for their claims yet continued to pursue them to extract a nuisance settlement.
On April 17, 2023, after the safe harbor period elapsed without any action from Cagle or Pedroza to withdraw or dismiss the claims, Armour filed his motion with the court. The trial court granted this motion on June 8, 2023, finding that both plaintiff and counsel had advanced factually frivolous claims against Armour in violation of section 128.7(b)(8). They were ordered to pay $2,430 in sanctions covering Armour’s legal fees and costs incurred due to their actions.
Despite attempts by Pedroza to explain their reasons for maintaining the lawsuit post-dismissal order through declarations filed later in June and July of 2023—none of which were considered by the court—the trial court stood firm on its ruling.
The attorneys involved included Irving Pedroza from D’Egidio & Pedroza representing Tibrea L. Cagle and Michael W. Knapp from Bradley Arant Boult Cummings representing Amor L. Armour. The case was presided over by Judge Michael E. Whitaker under Case ID B334400.