Millan v. Williams

This is an appeal by Daniel A. Millan, M.D., a defendant in a pending medical malpractice action below, from a final trial court order (1) finding him in contempt of court for filing a false affidavit with the court, and (2) imposing sanctions. This is also a cross appeal by the plaintiff Lenora Williams from the trial court’s refusal to strike the defendant’s defenses for filing the false affidavit. We reverse on the main appeal and affirm on the cross appeal.

Clearly, the contempt order under review must be treated as a criminal, rather than a civil, contempt because (a) the purpose of the…