Westfall Family Farms, Inc. v. King Ranch, Inc.

OPINION

BAKER, Justice.

This is a death penalty sanction ease. 1 The trial court granted King Ranch’s motion to strike the Westfalls’ answer and entered default judgment against the Westfalls. We conclude the trial court abused its discretion in entering a death penalty sanction before applying lesser sanctions. We reverse the trial court’s judgment. We remand this cause for a new trial.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

The underlying lawsuit arises out of a cattle feeding agreement between King Ranch and the Westfalls. In November 1988, King Ranch sued the Westfalls for breach of the agreement.…