Cire v. Cummings

The issue in this case is when, if ever, a trial court may strike a plaintiffs pleadings as a sanction without first testing the effectiveness of lesser sanctions. We conclude that in this case, the trial court did not abuse its discretion by striking the plaintiffs pleadings and imposing death penalty sanctions when the plaintiff violated the trial court’s orders by deliberately destroying dispositive evidence sought by the defendant in discovery. Thus, we reverse the court of appeals’ judgment and accordingly, render a take-nothing judgment against Cummings.

I

Attorneys George Cire and Martha…