Adams v. Barkman

Kara Singleton Adams, the defendant below, appeals from the final judgment entered in favor of Laura Barkman and Randall Hobbs, the plaintiffs below, after a jury returned a verdict awarding Barkman and Hobbs a total of $1.3 million in damages. On appeal, Adams contends that the trial court abused its discretion by: (1) granting the plaintiffs’ motion for mistrial based upon the improper conduct of defense counsel, Mr. Fischer, (2) striking Adams’ pleadings without considering all the Kozel1 factors in order to properly evaluate whether a lesser sanction might be appropriate, and (3)…