On Oct. 29, 2026, Tesla asked the San Diego Superior Court to pause Conroy v. Tesla while it pursued appellate relief, after Judge Cynthia Freeland denied reconsideration of a September 11 sanction that had deemed Tesla liable for fraud and negligent misrepresentation. Electrek reported the filings and rulings.

What the September sanction decided

No jury decided the fraud and negligent-misrepresentation claims at trial. On September 11, Judge Freeland imposed issue sanctions after discovery failures, treating Tesla’s liability on those claims as established. Discovery is the pretrial exchange of evidence. The court limited the remaining trial issues on the two claims to compensatory and punitive damages, according to Electrek.

Tesla had separately stipulated to liability for breach of contract, breach of warranty, and negligence in a joint trial-readiness report dated October 20. The case involved five claims: Tesla’s stipulations covered three, and the September sanction covered the other two.

The route to liability differed across the claims: Tesla stipulated to three, while the court imposed a discovery sanction on two others.

The discovery dispute behind the ruling

Electrek reported that the discovery dispute included requested Microsoft Teams messages, OSHA logs, emails with San Diego County inspectors, and more than 20 quality, installation, and safety reports from Tesla’s Bolt system.

Earlier court-ordered discovery penalties were $15,467.50 and $13,500, according to Electrek. Their arithmetic total is $28,967.50.

What the judge said about Conroy’s experiment theory

In denying reconsideration on October 27, Judge Freeland said late-produced documents could support Conroy’s theory that Tesla knowingly used his home as an experiment, Electrek reported. The ruling’s wording concerned what the documents could support in Conroy’s theory.

Tesla’s request to pause the case

On October 29, Tesla argued that the sanction was unduly punitive and effectively amounted to a directed verdict on fraud before trial. It asked the court to pause proceedings while it pursued relief from the California Court of Appeal, according to Electrek.

Grit Daily reported that a trial-readiness conference was scheduled for December 4, 2026.