Courts, Contempt, Post-Judgment Discovery, Non-Party Witness, Attorney Fee Award, 1, 11
CCP 1218(a) authorizes a court to award attorney fees in favor of the party prosecuting a contempt proceeding and against a person who is subject to court order as a party to the action and is found to have committed contempt by violating a court order. This decision holds that a person who was not a party to the case before entry of judgment can become a party to the action for this purpose if subpoenaed to provide evidence in post-judgment discovery designed to aid in enforcement of the judgment. Here, a friend of the defendant, who had been paying defendant’s bills while defendant claimed to lack assets to pay the $5 million judgment in plaintiff’s favor, committed contempt by refusing to provide evidence regarding those bill payments. The trial court correctly held him liable for $185,000 in attorney fees plaintiff had incurred in prosecuting the contempt proceeding.