Bashi v. Mercado, 1 CA-CV 16-0508

In 2014 Bashi sued Mercado and Mr. Bult’s, Inc. for personal injuries after Mercado’s truck allegedly "blew a tire," forcing Bashi to swerve onto the highway shoulder.
Defendants denied negligence, served two offers of judgment, and later moved for summary judgment on breach and causation grounds.
Bashi’s counsel withdrew; Bashi appeared pro se and did not respond to dispositive motions or to discovery/disclosure requirements.
Defendants also sought appointment of a guardian ad litem for Bashi; the trial court found defendants had properly served motions and denied the guardian ad litem request.
At the final trial management conference the court granted defendants’ motions to exclude evidence for disclosure failures and granted summary judgment dismissing Bashi’s complaint with prejudice for lack of evidence on breach and causation.
Bashi appealed; the Court of Appeals affirmed, adopting the trial court’s analysis and ruling no genuine issue of material fact existed to defeat summary judgment.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument	Defendant's Argument	Held
Whether summary judgment was improper because factual disputes exist	Bashi argued his injuries arose from Mercado’s tire blowout and created triable issues	Defendants argued Bashi failed to produce evidence on breach or causation and did not respond to motions	Court held no genuine issue of material fact; defendants entitled to judgment as a matter of law; affirmed summary judgment
Whether exclusion of evidence for disclosure failures was improper	Bashi implicitly disputed nothing at conference but argued exclusion was erroneous on appeal	Defendants argued Bashi failed to make required disclosures so evidence should be excluded	Court upheld exclusions as supported by record and relied on them in granting summary judgment
Whether a guardian ad litem should have been appointed	Bashi opposed or did not obtain appointment through inaction	Defendants sought guardian ad litem to ensure Bashi understood proceedings	Court denied appointment and found no reversible error in that denial

Home Builders Ass’n of Central Ariz. v. City of Maricopa, 215 Ariz. 146 (App. 2007) (standard of review for trial-court factual findings and legal conclusions)
Coulter v. Grant Thornton, LLP, 241 Ariz. 440 (App. 2017) (de novo review of summary judgment and assessment of factual disputes)
State v. Whipple, 177 Ariz. 272 (App. 1983) (appellate courts may adopt trial court’s reasoning when adequately explained)