Defendant LYFT, Inc. (“Lyft”) moves for an order staying the instant civil action pending conclusion of the parallel criminal prosecution against defendant Christopher Solis (the “Solis Action”), Orange County Superior Court Case No. 19NF0674.
Defendants/Cross-Defendants/Cross-Complainants Joseph Lorenzo Williamson and Christopher Solis join the motion.
It is well established that judges have inherent authority to control the litigation before them. (Rutherford v Owens-Illinois, Inc. (1997) 16 Cal.4th 953, 967.) Although the Constitution does not require that civil actions be stayed until the conclusion of the related criminal proceedings, courts retain the power to stay those proceedings under their general authority to issue stays and other similar relief when necessary to ensure the fairness of proceedings pending before them. (Landis v. North American Co. (1936) 299 U.S. 248, 254–55.) A court has discretion to stay civil proceedings pending the outcome of parallel criminal proceedi