Teter v. Deck

f Before excluding a witness as a sanction for discovery violations, the trial court must make findings that the violation was willful and prejudicial and was imposed only after explicitly considering less severe sanctions. In this medical negligence case, a pretrial motions judge excluded a key medical expert witness without the required findings. A different judge presided over the jury trial, subsequently granting a new trial on the ground that the exclusion order was a prejudicial error of law. 1

¶2 We hold that the trial judge was well within his discretion in granting the new trial. CR…