McConnell v. Wright

Melton, Justice.

In McConnell v. Wright, 280 Ga. App. 546 (634 SE2d 495) (2006), the Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s dismissal of James and Martha McConnell’s personal injury action as a sanction for the McConnells’ failure to attend their depositions. Prior to imposing this sanction, however, the trial court did not hold a hearing to determine whether the McConnells had acted willfully. We granted certiorari to determine whether, in the absence of such a hearing, the extreme sanction of dismissal was appropriate in this case. For the reasons set forth below, we reverse.

The record…